Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies surged Thursday to the highest levels since last month’s landmark U.S. approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Token prices have been propelled past key levels, potentially paving the way for more gains.
The price of Bitcoin has advanced 4.5% over the past 24 hours to near $44,800, the highest levels since mid-January, when prices climbed to near $49,000 amid a trading frenzy over the anticipation and approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. The jump higher comes after Bitcoin had languished for weeks, falling below the psychologically important $40,000 level at points and spurring concerns of a more painful correction.
“Bitcoin rose above its 50-day moving average, confirming the bullish medium-term trend and easing fears of a deeper correction,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro. “The rise to its highest level since 12 January came as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indices hit all-time highs.”
Indeed, Bitcoin’s jump has happened in step with the stock market, where the
Dow Jones Industrial Average,
S&P 500,
and especially the tech-heavy
Nasdaq
index, have marched higher, largely amid optimism over demand driven by artificial intelligence. Bitcoin has shown itself to be correlated to other risk-sensitive assets like stocks, so a wider risk-on mood in markets should help the crypto.
The technical market backdrop has been looking brighter as Bitcoin breaks higher, with analysts eyeing the prospect of more gains to come.
“Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have gained strength after a long period of consolidation and are now poised to make new highs,” said Kuptsikevich. “A break of the highs at $49,000 would confirm the pattern and make $64,000 a target.”
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—rose 2.5% to $2,420. Smaller tokens or altcoins were even higher, with
Cardano
climbing 11% and
Polygon
popping 5%. Memecoins were also in the green, with
Dogecoin
up 2% and
Shiba Inu
4% higher.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
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