Kraken beats Coinbase to most liquid alt US exchange: Kaiko

San Francisco-based exchange Kraken has taken the top spot in the United States for altcoin trading, according to new stats from crypto researchers Kaiko.

With a 47% lead beating major competitors Coinbase and Binance, Kraken holds the majority of market depth for the top 10 altcoins. ‘Market depth’ means a given market’s capacity to take a large buy or sell order without affecting the price of that market’s asset.

Following the fallout of 2022’s market turbulence along with the FTX collapse, market depth and liquidity had been severely impacted throughout the crypto landscape.  

In addition to its alt strength, Kraken’s marketshare in exchanges that support USD deposits has increased over the last year, from 21.1% in July to 8.3% in August 2022, according to data by The Block. 

A spokesperson for Kraken has attributed the uptick to its increased offering, specifically Kraken Pro trading platform, which launched last December. 

Altcoin season

Meanwhile, altcoin season could be on its way. This follows a bullish inverse head-and-shoulders (H&S) price pattern building in the combined market capitalisation of altcoins.

According to technical analysis by crypto trader Josh Olszewicz, a potential completion of the pattern would signal ‘alt season’ or outperformance of alternative cryptos relative to Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The inverse H&S occurs when an asset chalks out three price troughs, with the middle being the lowest. A move or a bearish-to-bullish trend change happens once prices go above the trendline, joining the peaks between the lows. Market technicians decipher the post-breakout price by adding the depth of the pattern to the breakout point.

Olszewicz, who is also a researcher at Valkyrie Investments, said: “The altcoin market cap is showing some sort of triple bottom/inverted head-and-shoulders situation.

“I don’t buy the head-and-shoulders pattern that’s sitting in the middle of consolidation. I am waiting for a break above $300 billion,” Olszewicz added in a market update.