The issue here is that everyone is looking (myself included) for high % returns as quick as possible, which is why BTC's price can't go up. As soon as BTC bounces up, the overall marketcap starts going up , money being poured into altcoins ...which makes BTC lose it's momentum. Once BTC's price lost momentum FUD starts building up and it goes down again which causes the entire marketcap to panic sell. Rinse and repeat. I've been watching this for the past 2 weeks repeat itself.
What can we do? Nothing really ...we are too small to have an impact. So my strategy is to try to take advantage of this cycle trading the big altcoins on USDT pair.
...don't forget Robbie, that cryptocurrencies actually have a real value. Nobody knows what it actually is, but they do. This value has nothing to do with the speculative market. If you keep your eyes on the overall trend of technology, this will guide you in the right direction.
I don't do a lot of day trading, and when I do, I do it just for fun because it is only just a little bit "better" than gambling. If you don't love it, don't do it. The karmic price is too high.
I think what will happen (and I'm not a seasoned investor, so don't give my words that much credence as far as prediction goes) is that Bitcoin is going to fumble around for awhile longer, and then it is going to go through an explosion again. There is a great deal of momentum for cryptoc's that isn't currently reflected in the trading.
When people start to think of Bitcoin as virtual gold, which I think they will, Bitcoin will become an institution, and the rest of the cryptc market will no doubt benefit from this change in perception. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the technology advances at a record pace.