Top 4 Factors Influencing the Price of Crypto

Top 4 Factors Influencing the Price of Crypto

The crypto market is very volatile. Part of this is that cryptocurrencies are not backed by any central authority or a tangible asset like gold. However, this volatility creates endless potential trading opportunities that, if leveraged correctly, could amount to huge profits.

To increase your chances of making a profit, you first need to understand what makes the market so volatile in the first place. This way, you can better predict the market's direction in response to certain stimuli.

Here are some of the most notable factors influencing price swings in the crypto market.

Supply and Demand

Like any other asset, price fluctuations in the crypto market boil down to supply and demand. Theoretically, higher demand for a particular cryptocurrency relative to supply causes an increase in price and vice versa.

Similarly, if the number of people willing to buy a cryptocurrency is higher than those willing to sell, the prices will surge relative to the demand. Take Bitcoin, for instance. Its widespread utilization across various platforms, including in crypto gambling games, has created demand, thus driving up its prices by about 75%.

Node Count and Listings

Node count represents the number of computers on a specific crypto network. A higher number of nodes represents a resilient network and demonstrates the community's strength. In many cases, an increase in node count is followed by a corresponding rise in crypto prices.

Listings can also affect crypto prices. Whenever crypto is listed on a new exchange, especially on popular exchanges like Binance US, its prices surge shortly after. The notion behind this is pretty simple –a new listing makes the crypto available to a larger market, which drives up demand.

Sentiment and Social Media

Investors' psychological and emotional attitudes toward cryptocurrencies can drastically affect their prices. Sentiment is mainly measured through the Fear and Greed Index. The index works on the notion that excessive fear causes more people to sell, thereby driving down share prices, while the greed effect has the opposite effect.

Social media can also affect crypto prices. Any hype around particular crypto or posts from influential people regarding the crypto can raise or lower the crypto's price. The action is primarily due to social media's influence on the sentiment towards particular crypto.

An example of this can be seen when PEPE's price soared by more than 300% just a week after launch. Before its monumental gains, the coin had been trending on Twitter, with over 2.9 million tweets.

Macroeconomic Factors

Although taunted as a hedge around macroeconomic factors, crypto is not entirely immune to external influences. For instance, during economic recessions, people tend to take less risks. Some even liquidate some of their more volatile assets, including crypto.

The Bottom Line

Despite being slightly over a decade old, the crypto market has gained widespread popularity owing to its limitless potential investment opportunities.

But, like with stocks, numerous factors can influence crypto prices. While some of these factors only cause slight price variations, other factors like sentiment and demand may have lasting effects, necessitating the need for market players to stay informed.