Ethereum is up 14.55%. Litecoin is up 70.33%

Bitcoin is so old and besides it is expensive.

If price is...gulp....hard to swallow, try Ethereum or perhaps Litecoin (like Lite Beer)

Looking at the changes since 0000 GMT, the various cryptocurrencies today are showing :

  • Bitcoin is up about 2.10% at around $17,096 area.
  • Ethereum is up 14.55% at $589.90.
  • Litecoin is up 70.33% at $374,34.

(Source Investing.com).

The Bitcoin 5 minute chart is below. The red horizontal line is the price action today. The price has been up and down, and although higher, it is not running (like last week). Technically, the price did hold above the 100 bar MA on the last test (blue line in the chart below). However, it did trade below that MA early in the session (more bearish). The MA is currently at $16,742.44 and moving higher. Go below that MA is more bearish with a break of the 200 bar MA even more bearish technically.

Below is the 5-minute chart of another digital currency option, Ethereum.

In trading today, it is higher by 14.55%. The start of the day (the day starts at 0000 GMT on this chart), the price fell modestly, but then based near the close and raced higher. Unlike bitcoin, the price did not get close to the 100 bar MA today (blue line). That MA is rising but down near the opening level (currently at $516.42). The bulls are in charge above that MA line.

Finally, below is the 5-minute chart of Litecoin - yet another cryptocurrency option.

Looking at its price action today, it has soared from around $218 at 0000 GMT to the current price at $374.34. That is a 70.33% rise. Like Ethereum, it has been racing from the 100 bar MA on the 5-minute chart and did not get close to it in trading today. The MA lags way behind at 252.69 currently, signaling the buyers are firmly in control.

So, Litecoin is the star for the day. Bitcoin is the dog for the day. Ethereum is in the middle.

Coincidentally - or not - the absolute prices of each has Litecoin, the lowest priced option, with Ethereum next and Bitcoin not even close - it remains up in the stratosphere.

Why one is more expensive vs another? I honestly do not know.

I do know there are "differences" but unlike currencies which price off the relative strengths and weaknesses (on a big picture view), of one country vs another, I am not sure why bitcoin is at $17,000 while Ethereum at $589 and Litecoin at $374 are so much lower. Do you?

Simplistically, Litecoin seems cheap and Bitcoin seems expensive.

So Bitcoin is old news today. Instead, it's all about Ethereum and Litecoin. So get with it.

PS if I spell "Ethereum" as "Etherium", to me, the cryptocurrency people simply spelled it wrong to mess with old geezers like me .....

PSS. I still think, that the technicals will help trading these digital currencies. When the "stories" become confusing, traders can always rely on technicals for risk defining levels. The price is a proxy for "the market" of buyers and sellers. Tools applied to the price action, give traders the bullish/bearish clues.