Bitcoin (BTC) Has Surged Three Times in 2019. What About Ethereum (ETH), XRP, EOS, and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)?

Other cryptocurrencies have followed suit and seen their own impressive gains. However, these gains have not been sporadic. Throughout the year-to-date, there have been three noticeable surges. In this analysis, we examine each of these surges and compare the price gains of Bitcoin against the four altcoins with the largest current market capitalization. These are:

• Ethereum (ETH)
• XRP (XRP)
• EOS (EOS)
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin’s First Surge (Feb 8-25)

On February 8, the price of Bitcoin reached a low of $3425.3. An upward move began, which culminated with a high of $4282.4 on Feb 25. A second upward move began on Feb 8. A period of consolidation ensued, which lasted until Feb 18. Price initiated two other upward moves on Feb 18 and Feb 23. All of the selected coins showed the same characteristics: First, there is an upward move followed by a period of consolidation. Then, there are two subsequent successive upward moves. Starting on Feb 8, EOS had the highest rate of increase. It was followed closely by ETH. They increased at similar rates until Feb 18. Subsequently, EOS went on a tear and finished the measuring period with the highest rate of increase. BCH, BTC, and XRP showed similar rates of the increase until the second upward move on Feb 18. Since then, BCH has increased at the fastest rate, while XRP lagged into last place. BTC finished in fourth. The full results of our analysis are shown below:

Ranking	Asset	+/-%
Winner	EOS	86.50%
Runner-Up	ETH	55.60%
Third Place	BCH	35.32%
Fourth Place	BTC	22.14%
Loser	XRP	15.55%

A Second Surge (Apr 2-18)

Between Apr 2 and 3, BTC saw rapid increases. After opening at under $4200 on Apr 2, the price reached a high of over $5300 the next day. ETH, EOS, BCH, and LTC saw similar spikes with BCH seeing the most significant gains. During this two day period, the price of BCH increased by around 95%. BCH subsequently dropped and rebounded but was unable to recover its Apr 3 highs. On the contrary, BTC, ETH, and EOS reached higher highs later in the month. XRP, however, rose the least and, like BCH, reached its highest point on Apr 3. Another commonality shared by these five coins is that they each experienced a significant drop on Apr 11. The magnitude of the drop was the greatest for BCH. Nonetheless, BCH maintained its lead over the other four currencies. The movements of ETH and BTC mirrored each other during the majority of this period; however, ETH consistently increased at a slower rate than BTC. EOS, on the other hand, consistently increased at a higher rate than ETH during the entire period and BTC for the majority. However, on Apr 21, the rate of increase for Bitcoin surpassed that of EOS. Similar to the first upward move, XRP increased at the slowest rate by a significant margin. The full results of our analysis are shown below:

Ranking	Asset	+/-%
Winner	BCH	72.71%
Runner-Up	BTC	34.92%
Third Place	EOS	21.80%
Fourth Place	ETH	18.74%
Loser	XRP	1.68%

A Third SurgeHas A Bull Run Began?

On May 7, the price of Bitcoin reached a low of $6028.9. An upward move began, which culminated with a high of $8352.3 on May 16. The price increased by three waves:

1. The price surged between May 7 and 11.
2. Gains intensified with a sudden and rapid spike on May 11. This continued until the 12 when the price dropped.
3. On May 13, the price surged again and reached its highest levels on May 16.

Price then fell and recovered. By May 20, BTC was trading around the same levels as on May 16. BCH similarly spiked on May 7, BCH immediately went on a tear. It followed a similar pattern to that of BTC with a higher rate of increase. ETH initially lagged behind but picked up the pace on May 16 when it briefly had the highest rate of increase. Its May 20 rebound appeared stronger than BTC’s but weaker than that of BCH. In contrast to the other two spikes, XRP performed very well initially. Though it was increasing at a slower rate than BTC during the beginning of the period, this change on May 15. Until May 16, XRP incrased at a higher rate than BTC but then dropped back below. EOS consistently increased at a slower rate than BTC and finished in last place. The full results of our analysis are shown below:

Ranking	Asset	+/-%
Winner	BCH	39.06%
Runner-Up	ETH	33.05%
Third Place	BTC	25.87%
Fourth Place	XRP	23.22%
Loser	EOS	19.4%

Summary

Based on our analysis, four observations stand out as perhaps the most important and noticeable:

• BTC has never had the highest rate of increase.
• BCH has consistently increased at a higher rate than BTC in all three spikes.
• XRP has increased at a smaller rate than BTC in all three spikes.
• EOS had the highest rate of increase during the first surge but the lowest during the last one.

Furthermore, most of the coins have mirrored the price of Bitcoin. However, the increases have been significantly larger in several coins while the decreases have been consistently sharper. This has been especially evident in EOS and ETH in the Feb 8 spike and BCH in the Apr 2 one. BCH boasted the best performance. It had the highest rate of increase on two occasions and never ranked less than third. On the contrary, XRP was the weakest performing. It finished in last place twice and never broke past fourth. BTC, EOS, and ETH were usually had similar rates of increase and ranked in the middle. However, EOS usually enjoyed slightly higher gains than ETH, even though they followed similar patterns. Do you think that BCH is going to continue performing better than BTC during the next surge? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Disclaimer: This article is not trading advice and should not be construed as such. Always consult a trained financial professional before investing in cryptocurrencies, as the market is particularly volatile.