Despite the Recent Slump, Crypto Prices Improved a Great Deal in 2019

As far as prices are concerned, 2019’s cryptocurrency markets fared much better than the year prior. Currently, the entire market capitalization of all digital assets is hovering just above the $200 billion mark. The following is a look at the cryptocurrency market’s biggest gainers and worst losers so far in 2019 to get some perspective of possible outcomes and historical trends as the year ends.

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The Biggest Percentage Changes in Crypto so Far

There’s one more month left in 2019, and digital currency fans are curious about how markets will finish at the year’s end. So far, most cryptocurrencies did well this year and outperformed most traditional financial investments. For instance, as far as percentage changes over the course of one year in USD, six out of the 10 largest market valuations are up in value. Bitcoin core (BTC) is up 77% during the one-year period, and ethereum (ETH) is up over 27%. BTC and ETH are followed by BCH (25%), LTC (36%), BNB (190%), and BSV (1.5%) which are all up this year as well. 2019’s top ten losers includes XRP which is down -40%, EOS (-5%), and XLM (-64%). Still, BTC is down 63% from its all-time high (ATH) and ETH is down 89% from the coin’s ATH. Nearly every top 10 crypto is roughly two years away from its ATH, but BNB and BSV are only five months away from their price highs.

The top percentage gainers of 2019 have not existed as long as most coins that are more than a year old or older. So cryptocurrencies like luna coin (LUNA), omnitude (ECOM), and morpheus (MRPH) are all up 5,000% or more. Cryptos that have been around for more than a year indicate that tierion (TNT) is the highest gainer with 318% followed by binance coin (BNB) seeing a 190% gain this year. Regardless of the recent price slump, more than two-thirds of the entire cryptoconomy has done well this year.

Other digital currencies with notable gains that have been around longer than 2019’s new coins include tezos (149%), firstblood (137%), and centrality (118%). As far as changes per year in USD value is concerned for 2018, BTC is down 72%, but for 2016 investors, BTC is up 89%. For ETH markets, the 2018 change is down 82%, but investors who got in two years prior are still up 756%. Out of the 20 largest coin capitalizations, today monero (XMR) is the best older coin to obtain as it’s up 2,258% since 2016.

Further Price Contraction or a Santa Claus Rally?

Many traders also wonder if BTC will follow the same trend it has during the month of December in the last four years. Historical price movement trends show BTC has climbed 30% or more in December since 2015. Crypto traders call it the ‘Santa Claus Rally’ but market participants are uncertain it will happen. BTC prices are down 21.5% in a 30-day timespan and a 30% increase would bring prices a touch above last month’s losses. In addition to the possible December rally, the end of 2019 means the BTC reward halving is getting much closer.

The monthly MACD on #bitcoin just had a bearish cross.

Yikes. pic.twitter.com/kOB65aOAq3

— Byzantine General (@ByzGeneral) December 1, 2019

Despite historical rallies, traders have noted the BTC/USD 30-day moving average convergence divergence (MACD) shows a bearish cross. In late June, BTC came close to touching $14K per coin, but since then has been jumping back and forth between two parallel trendlines. Traditionally the upper trendline merges swing highs in price and the lower trendline connects the swing lows.

“We essentially went from $5,000 dollars to $13,500 in 3 months and now, like the swing of a pendulum, the market wants to know where the bottom is again. In my opinion, we are in the early stages of a bull market, you’ll see that the bottom this time around is much higher than $5,000. We will find higher lows all the way back to all-time highs,” blockchain investment firm KR1 executive George McDonaugh said on November 26.

Overall, BTC and five other top 10 cryptocurrencies have done well so far but the year is not over yet. Moreover, a wide variety of other coins have seen decent percentage gains while a slew of other cryptos are definitely on life support. The month of December may continue to highlight the more recent crypto price contraction or if digital currency traders are lucky, they may get another ‘Santa Claus Rally.’

Where do you see the cryptocurrency markets heading from here? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: Price articles and market updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.” Cryptocurrency prices referenced in this article were recorded at 1:56 p.m. EST on December 2, 2019.

Images credits: Shutterstock, Trading View, Bitcoin.com Markets, Wiki Commons, and Pixabay.

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Jamie Redman

Jamie Redman is a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open source code, and decentralized applications. Redman has written thousands of articles for news.Bitcoin.com about the disruptive protocols emerging today.