The divergence between bitcoin and altcoin prices continues. While BTC/USD hit a new high of $298.99 on Tuesday, Peercoin and Namecoin are still trading well inside their ranges. While Litecoin has been pushing on the high of its congestion area at $2 dollars, it is still unable to break it.

Bitcoin Bounces Off $300

Bitcoin bounced off the important $300 level late on Tuesday. We’ve noted this area as important resistance so it’s not surprise that prices stopped to catch their breath here. The chart below shows why $300 is important.

This number stopped two large bitcoin moves higher back in January. The first one got as high as $301.01 before falling back. The second went a step further, rallying to $303.30 before the bears knocked down the pair again. Given the importance of this area, expect to see a lot of games being played around it (false breaks etc). If BTC/USD can climb above here, preferably by going over $305 or better yet $310, we may see extended gains toward $334. Notable resistance levels further up can be found at $350 and $370. On the lower end, a decisive move below $250 would end the current rally. But to jump-start a new downtrend, bitcoin will need to take out $225 per coin as well.

Litecoin Still Below $2 Dollars

Alternative cryptocurrency Litecoin has yet to clear the high of its range at $2 dollars and stage a breakout. While bitcoin rallied over 17 percent in March, LTC only managed to gain about 10 percent during the same time period.

The chart above shows LTC/USD still struggling to break $2 dollars. The high reached on Tuesday at $2.0499 is still unbroken. A clearing of $2 dollars and stabilization of prices above the mark may open the door for a sustainable LTC rally. The first important resistance above here stands at $2.40 with other notable levels higher at $2.70, $3 dollars and $3.40 per coin. On the downside, a breakdown below the low of the range at $1.66 may start a downtrend for Litecoin. Important support levels below here include $1.50 and $1.05. The area from the parity level at $1 to the January 15th swing low at $1.05 will be important support for Litecoin. The downtrend will intensify if LTC/USD can clear out this area and take out the $1 dollar parity level in the process.

FXOpen offers the world's most popular cryptocurrency CFDs*, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Floating spreads, 1:2 leverage — at your service. Open your trading account now or learn more about crypto CFD trading with FXOpen.

*At FXOpen UK and FXOpen AU, Cryptocurrency CFDs are only available for trading by those clients categorised as Professional clients under FCA Rules and Professional clients under ASIC Rules respectively. They are not available for trading by Retail clients.

This article represents the opinion of the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand only. It is not to be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation with respect to products and services provided by the Companies operating under the FXOpen brand, nor is it to be considered financial advice.