Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies advanced again Thursday, continuing the rally that has pushed digital assets to two-year highs in recent days. Analysts said cryptos have momentum that could push prices higher still.
The price of Bitcoin has risen 2% over the past 24 hours to $52,400, sitting around the highest levels since December 2021 after the largest digital asset blew through the psychologically important $50,000 mark earlier this week. This is the latest stage of a rally that has lasted months amid the anticipation and later approval in January of the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the U.S., a long-awaited catalyst.
“Bitcoin is grabbing the headlines once more, fully capitalizing on the spot ETF coverage to soar to a new two-year high,” said Craig Erlam, an analyst at broker Oanda. “When crypto has momentum like this, who knows where it will go next, and that can apply in both directions.”
However, many analysts do see direction for Bitcoin—and the direction is higher, with technical market indicators flashing green after a spate of strong gains.
“We don’t even see a prolonged consolidation,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro. “This dynamic reinforces our view that the next meaningful shakeout may not come before the approach of $60,000, where there were several inflection points in 2021.”
Bitcoin continues to benefit from multiple positive factors, including jubilation in the stock market—where the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500
remain near all-time highs—and continued optimism that spot ETFs will drive new investor interest. Bitcoin’s so-called halving, which will cut the programmatic issuance of the token, pressuring supply and supporting prices, also looms in the months to come.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—advanced 2% to $2,800. Smaller tokens also traded higher, with
Cardano
climbing 2% and
Polygon
up 1%. Memecoins exhibited similar price action, with
Dogecoin
up 3% and
Shiba Inu
gaining 1%.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
Read the full article here
