Altcoins move to new all-time highs while Bitcoin struggles below $60K

Bitcoin price might be pinned below $60,000, but that’s not stopping THORChain, Akropolis and Helium from chasing after new all-time highs.

According to data from, Bitcoin’s (BTC) Q1 2021 performance was the best since 2013. With strong tailwinds, Bitcoin now enters Q2 which historically has been a good period for BTC price.

Data shows that BTC has only closed Q2 in the red twice and both times the decline was less than 10%. If history repeats itself, Bitcoin investors may witness sharp gains in the next six months. 

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Altcoins have also participated in the current bull run and this has propelled the total crypto market capitalization to $1.99 trillion which is just short of the $2 trillion milestone.

Let’s take a look at some of the top-performing tokens to see which may continue to rally higher in the short term.

RUNE/USDT

The decentralized finance boom has attracted numerous new players. However, one of the problems facing investors is that the protocols are built on different blockchains.

This necessitates the need for a cross-chain protocol, enabling traders to swap tokens across the blockchains in a decentralized way and THORChain (RUNE) is attempting to do just that.

On March 26 the protocol teased that its multichain Chaosnet, which supports native cross-blockchain swapping across five chains is expected to go live soon.

This feature could attract several new investors who may lock their assets in THORChain for greater yields. If that happens, the total value of assets locked in THORChain could surge from the current $553 million TVL and add further benefit to RUNE investors.

Successful implementation of this feature could increase the demand for RUNE. On Feb. 23, Crypto investment firm Multicoin Capital also revealed a large position in RUNE.

RUNE rallied from an intraday low at $4.50 on March 25 to an intraday high at $8.93 today, a 98.44% rally in eight days. However, the long wick on today’s candlestick suggests profit-booking at higher levels.

RUNE/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The RUNE/USDT pair may retest the breakout level at $6.76. If the bulls can flip this level to support, it may act as a launchpad for the next leg of the uptrend that may reach $10.26.

The upsloping moving averages and the relative strength index (RSI) in the overbought zone suggest bulls are in command.

If the bears sink the price below $6.76, the pair may drop to the 20-day exponential moving average ($6.24). A bounce off this support will indicate the sentiment remains positive and it may keep the uptrend intact.

This positive view will invalidate if the bears sink the price below the 20-day EMA. Such a move could pull the price down to the 50-day SMA ($5.36) and then to $4.50.

AKRO/USDT

The DeFi space is crowded and projects will have to think out of the box and introduce attractive products to stay ahead in the game. However, for the past few weeks, there have not been any major announcements from the Acropolis (AKRO) team.

High Ethereum gas fees continue to be a burden on users and that may have taken a toll. These could be some of the reasons why the protocol's TVL is only at $37.31 million, according to a weekly update on March 31.

The team did mention that it is working on new vault strategies but it did not dish out too many specifics. In a bull market, almost everything rises, but projects that do not have a distinct advantage over their competitors struggle when the next downturn happens. Therefore, crypto investors should analyze the fundamentals of the projects and hold the ones that offer an edge over the others.

AKRO has risen from an intraday low at $0.042 on March 25 to $0.088 today, a rally of 109.50% in eight days. The token’s break above $0.072 completed a bullish ascending triangle pattern that has a target objective at $0.127.

AKRO/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

However, the long wick on today’s candlestick suggests profit-booking at higher levels. The bears will now try to sink the price back below the breakout level at $0.072. If they succeed, the AKRO/USDT pair could drop to the 20-day EMA ($0.060).

If the price rebounds off this level, the bulls will once again try to push the price above $0.072 and resume the up-move.

Conversely, if the bears sink the price below the 20-day EMA, the pair may drop to the trendline of the triangle. A break below this support will invalidate the bullish setup and signal a possible change in trend.

HNT/USDT

Helium (HNT) was featured by Cointelegraph on Feb. 9 when it was trading at $3.96. From there, the token rallied to $12.09 on March 28, a 205% rally in just under two months.

The protocol aims to build a decentralized wireless network and connect IoT devices at a fraction of the cost of the current cellular service providers. Since early February, the number of active hotspots has increased from 18,000 to 24,572.

This number is likely to increase as one of its third-party HNT miner suppliers said that it had shipped 2,000 miners to customers in China on March 31. If HNT's popularity increases in China, the number of hotspots could continue to rise.

Helium recently partnered with Streamr, a decentralized platform for real-time data, which can help users transport, broadcast, and monetize data. Helium has also forged partnerships with several firms that provide various types of IoT solutions.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro turned positive just as HNT was starting the rally on March 25.

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs.HNT price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for HNT was in the green on March 25, just as the token started its rally from $7.09 to $11.38 on March 28.

The VORTECS™ Score again turned green on March 31 just before the start of the rally and it has remained in the green since then. HNT pric rallied from $9.67 to $11.98 during the period.

Currently, HNT is in an uptrend but the bears are trying to stall the up-move at $12. The bears had pulled the price down from this level on March 28 but the bulls purchased the drop to the 20-day EMA ($8.66) on March 31, indicating accumulation on dips.

HNT/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView

The rising moving averages and the RSI in the overbought territory suggest the path of least resistance is to the upside. If the bulls can sustain the price above $12, the next leg of the uptrend could start. The next target objective on the upside is $14.56 and then $17.64.

Contrary to this assumption, if the price again turns down from $12, the bulls will try to sink the HNT/USDT pair below the 20-day EMA. If they succeed, the pair could drop to the 50-day SMA ($6.04).

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.