Bitcoin rises near $25,000. Key levels must be cleared to continue rallying.
Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies rose on Monday as the march higher in digital assets continued despite a quiet day in the stock market, with investors away from Wall Street for the Presidents Day holiday.
The price of Bitcoin has risen 1.5% in the past 24 hours to over $24,900, after rising above $25,100 at the top of recent trading. The biggest digital asset is hovering around its highest levels since last June, amid a rally that has taken it around 50% higher to start 2023 – even as Bitcoin continues to change hands well below its late-2021 high, near $69,000.
“Bitcoin’s positive momentum continued this week with a break above the previous high of 24,250. Not only did we see positive price action, but volume was also higher than it had been in the previous two weeks,” said Rachel Lin, CEO of crypto derivatives platform Synfutures. “Unfortunately positive price action has not been accompanied by good fundamental news.”
In fact, cryptos have seemingly climbed despite a wave of regulatory storm clouds gathering around the space. US regulators have taken several lines of action in recent weeks to crack down on crypto companies as well as products and services, including stablecoins and staking – raising the prospect of a tougher operating environment in the world’s largest economy.
Nonetheless, traders have taken the latest regulatory headwinds in their stride – perhaps showing optimism about the prospect of legal clarity for crypto at long last, even if that includes short-term headwinds.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Upbeat trading in digital asset markets Monday also comes amid a quiet session for investors globally, with Wall Street off over Presidents Day and stocks muted globally.
Cryptos have been largely correlated with stocks over the past year – amid a tough macroeconomic environment – which typically move in tandem with
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500.
In the absence of equity trading or major macro catalysts, Bitcoin and its peers continued to drift higher, with key price levels pending.
“We still have to see how Bitcoin performs in the coming days,” Lin said. “There are several resistance levels between 25,000 and 25,250 including the 200-week moving average. We are also witnessing strong selling pressure in this region, a break above 25,200 would be a very good sign for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.”
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
— the second-largest cryptocurrency — gained 1% to top $1,700. Smaller cryptos, or altcoins, were more mixed in
Cardano
climbing 1.5% but
Polygon
less than 1% lower. Memecoins were in the green, too
Dogecoin
up less than 1% and
Shiba Inu
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
jumps 4%.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
