The major cryptocurrencies displayed a mixed performance on Thursday evening. While the world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin appeared to be correcting, altcoins were surging ahead.

What Happened: Bitcoin’s rally came to a brief pause on Thursday as it dipped to $43,000 after reaching a high of nearly $45,000 earlier this week. This slight decline suggests that traders may have chosen to take some profits following the cryptocurrency’s significant surge from $38,000 just a week ago.

ETH, on the other hand, surged by 5% during the same time frame, marking its highest price point since May 2022.

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The global crypto market cap has reached $1.58 trillion, marking a 1.26% decrease in the last 24 hours.

Stocks rallied on Thursday, breaking three-day losing streaks for both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500, as investors eagerly awaited Friday’s crucial jobs report. The S&P 500 rose by 0.80% to reach 4,585.59, while the Dow gained 62.95 points, or 0.17%, closing at 36,117.38. The Nasdaq Composite outperformed, surging 1.37% to 14,339.99, fueled by strong performance from technology stocks.

Throughout this week, investors have closely monitored the job market. Thursday’s release of weekly jobless claims indicated that the pace of layoffs has not increased, as both the claims themselves and continuing jobless claims were lower than expected. The market initially reacted with concern, leading to a slight increase in the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, which currently stands at 4.148%.

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Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe suggests that Ethereum is beginning to rally against Bitcoin. According to Van de Poppe, “the period prior to the Bitcoin halving, 3-8 months before, it’s the best period to allocate towards altcoins.”

Based on this theory, it appears that Ethereum is currently exhibiting similar patterns, indicating that “Ethereum is ready for $3,000+ in Q1.”

Eli Taranto, Executive Director at EQI Bank, in a note seen by Benzinga, said, “As BTC appears to continue its volatile path to ascendance, figures revealed today show that 2020 bull market buyers now control 16% of supply and continue to HODL, indicating that BTC has a strong following and, more importantly investors continue to see this mini bull run as just the beginning.” 

He added, “As the global economy is showing mixed signals, there are still downside pressures – but Bitcoin never follows a straight path. The king of cryptos seems to have secured a more elevated corridor, but risks of $38-39k remain. “

Crypto analytics firm Santiment has observed that traders are currently concerned about a potential bull trap in the crypto markets. “Traders are fearful that crypto markets may be in a bull trap at the moment. But while Bitcoin may have stopped its momentum for the time being, Ethereum and #altcoins are blasting off once again. FUD could propel BTC to $50K if it increases.”

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