Crypto Today: Bitcoin gains traction as futures trading kicks off

• Bitcoin drops sharply over the weekend.
• CBOE launches bitcoin futures trading.

Bitcoin came under a heavy selling pressure over the weekend as investors took their profits off the table before the CBOE launched its futures trading on Monday. The BTC/USD pair dropped more than $3000 on Saturday and Sunday but was able to reverse its course on Monday. According to the latest available data on coinmarketcap.com, the BTC/USD was trading at $16,552.50, gaining nearly 7% on the day. In the meantime, bitcoin futures on CBOE, which advanced to $18380 during the day, is now at $17,870, up $2410, or 15.59%.

In an article written for coindesk.com, FXStreet analyst Omkar Godbole wrote, "with doors now open for mainstream investors, BTC is showing no signs of slowing down. The price chart analysis indicates the path of least resistance is on the higher side." Assessing the technical outlook, "bitcoin is likely to break above $17,364.56 (record high as per Bitcoin Price Index) and move towards $20,000. Any pullback is likely to be capped around $14,000, courtesy of the upward sloping 10-day moving average," Godbole further added.

After easing to $370 billion on Saturday, the total market capitalization of all digital currencies increased to $440 billion today. Bitcoin remains as the most dominant cryptocurrency with taking up the 62.5% of the total trading volume. In the meantime, ether, the second largest digital currency in terms of trading volume, is also up 9.5% at $472.