Relation Between Altcoin & Bitcoin Prices
I am trying to understand this given that I am still very early in my crypto investing & trading 'career'.
I use Bittrex to trade on altcoins along with Bitcoin, and most of those altcoins, including Steem use Bitcoin to buy or sell. What I would like to understand is the relation between the price rise of Bitcoin and the corresponding price of these smaller altcoins.
So, is it fair to assume that if Bitcoin-USD price goes up, so will, say, Steem-USD? And vice versa?
Or are the two unrelated?
Thoughts/opinions welcome.
My understanding is that because Bitcoin is the main trading pair it means when Bitcoin goes up the altcoins often go up and vice versa. The altcoin price against Bitcoin doesn't need to change at all for the altcoin to go up or down in USD if Bitcoin is moving.
The altcoin price against Bitcoin doesn't need to change - yep, that's quite logical (mathematical), but my question actually is; if BTC goes up, the altcoin could also go down? And actually, what's the logic behind these altcoins been pegged to the BTC and not USD on exchanges?
I think its because some of the big altcoin exchanges dont trade with USD or any hard money so they dont have issues with regulators. So BTC is the main currency to trade against.
Interesting. My question stems from my need to understand what should I do with my Altcoins when they are rushing up at the same time that BTC is doing that. Book profits or wait medium-term in the hope that even if BTC falls, they won't.