Bitcoin (BTC) is now quickly approaching the coveted $60,000 mark after rising 5% over the past day. This is because investor interest in the world’s largest cryptocurrency has reached levels last seen during the 2021 boom, putting it very close to all-time highs.
Rally before halving? Bitcoin is close to $60,000.
The price rise coincided with a surge in demand as spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surpassed $3 billion in cumulative trading volume on Tuesday. Other traders also cited the expected April Bitcoin halving as a source of new talk to spark pre-halving increases.
The market capitalization of the world’s most popular digital asset has now reached $1.2 trillion, according to data from Coingecko.
Bitcoin fast approaching the $60K level. Source: Coingecko
Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said that now that Bitcoin is much closer to retesting all-time highs, the market is “much more determined to retest and break the level.”
Bitcoin is up 16% this week and 35% so far this year, largely due to euphoria surrounding a number of physical Bitcoin exchange-traded funds that began trading in January.
Bitcoin market cap currently at $1.16 trillion. Chart: TradingView.com
Bitcoin reached its highest level since November 2021 when it surpassed $59,000. The purpose of the current surge is to see if the price can rise to the all-time high of $68,790. The peak occurred six months before the shocking collapse in 2022.
According to Coinglass data, $25 million in futures bets on Bitcoin price declines were liquidated after Asian morning hours, which may have contributed to the price rise.
‘Extreme Greed’ for BTC
Meanwhile, the Fear and Greed Index, a psychological indicator that measures how quickly asset movements deviate from underlying fundamentals, hit its highest level in more than a year, hitting 82 on Wednesday, signaling “extreme greed.”
Source: Alernative.me
A scale from 0 to 100 represents the most anxious and 100 represents the most greedy. According to the index creators, a hungry environment signals vitality and indicates that the market is due for a correction.
Bitcoin is up 24% since the ETF began trading on January 11. According to Bitwise Asset Management analyst Ryan Rasmussen, the current upward price trend is just the beginning.
“The demand that ETFs create for the spot Bitcoin market is far greater than the daily new supply,” he said.
In the end, Rasmussen said:
“What we are seeing is cryptocurrencies rising from the ashes of the market in 2022.”
Bitcoin trading volume so far this quarter has exceeded the total trading volume in each quarter of 2023 over the same period. Major cryptocurrency trading platforms such as Coinbase Global (COIN) and Robinhood (HOOD) have benefited greatly from this activity. From early January to present, the stocks are up 27% and 31%, respectively.
Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
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