Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple overview: rangebound trading with bearish bias prevails

• Major coins are mostly down within the current ranges
• $4,000 remains the line in the sand for BTC.

The cryptocurrency market is rangebound with bearish bias during early Asian hours with the majority of top-20 coins wearing red colors. Ethereum Classic is a notable exception as the coin gained nearly 5% since this time on Tuesday. Monero and Cardano also show positive momentum with 1.2% and 2.4% of gains respectively.

Stellar is the worst performer of the day. The coin has lost 3% on a day-on-day basis, which is no surprise since the coin was ripe for a technical correction after a strong growth during the previous days.

The total capitalization of digital assets in circulation reduced to $139.57B.

Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at $3,975 at the time of writing. The recovery of the first digital coin is still limited by a brick wall at $4,000. This level has been holding Bitcoin bulls back since the end of the last year, which makes it even more important.

“Questions are being asked constantly when it comes to bitcoin’s battle with the $4,000 mark. Since Dec. 14, 2018, there have been several battles between bulls and bears at the price level of $4K. In each. bulls have lost the war because after the first attack at the $4K level the bears have been able to gain enough strength to push the price back below this critical mark,” Naeem Aslam, chief markets analyst at Think Markets U.K explains.

Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $138.97. The second largest coin has its own line in the sand – $140.00. This barrier is critical for further long-term recovery, though the bullish momentum is nowhere to be seen.

Ripple’s XRP is mostly unchanged both on a day-on-day basis and since the beginning of Wednesday. XRP/USD is changing hands at $0.3150 at the time of writing, moving within a tight range with a short-term bearish bias.