Although 2018 has been a rough year for the cryptocurrency markets, investors have also gained some levels of hope and excitement from pseudo-analysts who predicted that the markets would climb back towards their yearly highs as we approached the end of 2018.

Despite this, the markets have not had any major rally towards the end of 2018, and it now appears that the persisting bear market will continue into 2019.

Bitcoin Drifts Lower Following Friday’s Pump

At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading down 1.75% at its current price of $3,800. This past Thursday, Bitcoin’s price dropped to lows of $3,600, which led many analysts and investors to believe that further losses were coming. However, on Friday Bitcoin’s price surged to highs of nearly $4,000, from which has since dropped slightly.

Although Bitcoin is trading relatively flat, multiple analysts expect further downside in the near-future.

In a daily update, DonAlt, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, told his followers that he is waiting to rebuy Bitcoin around its next support level around $3,400.

“Short hedged around 70% of my entire portfolio around 3900, now going to enjoy new years in peace. I'll be looking to rebuy the next support down below (~3400) or stop out once we close above ~3950,” he explained.

Peter Brandt, another popular trader, told his 245k followers that contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t think that Bitcoin is forming a bullish head and shoulders (H&S) reversal bottom, and believes that the bear market is not yet over.

“Many chartists view $BTC as a H&S bottom. I am NOT among them. Higher probability is that bear market is not over,” Brandt said.

Altcoins Drop Slightly

Bitcoin’s inability to push above $4,000 has led most altcoins to drop slightly over the past few days, although most cryptocurrencies are still trading up from their weekly lows.

At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) is trading down 1.4% at its current price of $136.9. This past week, ETH dropped to lows of $115, from which it is currently trading up 19%. During Bitcoin’s surge to $4,000 over the weekend, ETH rose to highs of $145 where it was swiftly rejected.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of today’s worst performing altcoins and is trading down 3% at its current price of $158. On Thursday, BCH dropped to lows of $144 before jumping to highs of $176. BCH is up significantly from its one-month lows of $76.

XRP is trading down 2.7% at its current price of $0.357. XRP is trading up just over 6% from its weekly lows of $0.336 but is trading down nearly 14% from its seven-day highs of $0.415.

All the cryptocurrencies mentioned in this article are available to trade on covesting.io