NEW YORK – Bitcoin climbed above US$30,000 for the first time since June 2022, rallying more than 80 per cent since the start of the year.
The rebound is even more intense than a nearly 20 per cent gain on the Nasdaq 100 – with which Bitcoin has tended to move in tandem – and retraces some of the digital token’s losses from 2022 following a series of crypto-related blow-ups.
Still, Bitcoin is down more than 50 per cent from its all-time high in November 2021.
“Thirty thousand is very significant for both technical and fundamental reasons,” said Quantum Economics chief executive officer Mati Greenspan. “The resistance has been building up for three weeks straight and has now finally broken.”
He added: “This is the first time we have crossed that level since the collapse of Terra/Luna and Three Arrows Capital. It basically means that the price has fully recovered from Celsius, FTX and the US regulatory crackdown.”
To be sure, the crypto industry is still facing immense scrutiny.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global said it has received a notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States declaring its intention to bring an enforcement action.
The SEC has sued crypto mogul Justin Sun for allegedly violating securities rules in a case that Mr Sun said lacks merit.
Elsewhere, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Binance founder Zhao Changpeng and his crypto exchange for alleged violations of derivatives regulations, although Binance has said it does not agree with many of the agency’s characterisations.
But even with the setbacks, Bitcoin’s rally has gained strength over the past month following the collapse of three US banks, which revived the narrative among Bitcoin bulls that the token offers a more attractive alternative to traditional finance.
Furthermore, analysts say a drop in liquidity to a 10-month low – after market makers lost access to US banking rails provided by Silvergate Capital and Signature Bank – could also explain the rebound, at least in part. With lower trading volumes, price swings can look more dramatic.
“Order books are thin and trading activity is depressed,” said Mr Strahinja Savic, head of data and analytics at FRNT Financial.
“Under these circumstances, it is possible that we see price action that is difficult to pin to any one reason.” BLOOMBERG
