Market Wrap: Bitcoin Drops to Near $56K as Spot Trading Volume Remains Low

Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $56,140.49 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 3.72% over the previous 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $55,541.91-$58,645.77 (CoinDesk 20)
BTC trades below its 10-hour and 50-hour averages on the hourly chart, a bearish signal for market technicians.

Bitcoin slid for a second day as the No. 1 cryptocurrency saw flat trading volume, typical of a rangebound market.

Bitcoin’s spot trading volume on eight U.S.-focused crypto exchanges tracked by CoinDesk was largely unchanged on Wednesday. The trading volume has been around or below $3 billion for seven days now.

The oldest cryptocurrency is looking at a price support level around $54,000, as CoinDesk reported earlier, with resistance around $60,000.

On the buyers’ side, bitcoin’s “kimchi premium,” the difference between prices on South Korean exchanges and other global avenues, dropped significantly on Wednesday, an indication of weakened bitcoin demand from traders and investors in the East Asian country.

Bitcoin fell by over 6% against the Korean won (KRW) after South Korean exchange Upbit suspended KRW withdrawals and deposits before markets opened in the U.S. on Wednesday morning.

Some analysts remain positive on the long-term price trend. Katie Stockton, a technical analyst at Fairlead Strategies, told CoinDesk that the intraday declines of between 3% and 6% are less impactful on the price charts. Instead, the losses suggest ongoing support from trend and momentum indicators.

Ether and altcoins

Ether (ETH) trading around $1,981.56 as of 20:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Slipping 6.29% over the previous 24 hours.
Ether’s 24-hour range: $1,933.91-$2,129.39 (CoinDesk 20)
Ether trades below its 10-hour and 50-hour averages on the hourly chart, a bearish signal for market technicians.

After having logged three days of gains, ether saw a price pullback Wednesday, slipping below $2,000 for the first time since April 3.

Other alternative cryptocurrencies (“altcoins”) also suffered losses, according to CoinDesk 20.

Analysts at the cryptocurrency data firm Messari have highlighted the so-called “Coinbase effect” where new digital tokens such as cardano tend to receive a quick price pump after they become available on the U.S. crypto exchange giant Coinbase.

The average return after tokens being listed on Coinbase stands at around 91%, according to Messari. It is much higher than the exchange pump effect on other major exchanges such as Binance, FTX, OKEx and Gemini.

Other digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly in…