Bitcoin prices have rallied lately, bringing the cryptocurrency close to $9,000. (Photo by INA … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
Bitcoin prices have been skyrocketing lately, climbing more than 15% over roughly 24 hours and bringing the world’s most prominent digital currency within range of breaching the $9,000 level.
The cryptocurrency rose to as much as $8,973.08 this afternoon, CoinDesk figures show.
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At this price, the digital asset had reached its highest level since early March, and was up more 16.2% over approximately 24 hours, additional CoinDesk data reveals.
[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]
When explaining this recent price action, several analysts pointed to technical factors and anticipation surrounding the so-called halving, which will reduce new supply of bitcoin by 50%.
Denis Vinokourov, head of research for London-based digital asset firm Bequant, weighed in on these matters.
“With less than two weeks before the eagerly awaited block reward halving, the market was poised for a breakout,” he stated.
“The direction was not always clear and, with plenty of flow in the derivatives market that would imply market participants were looking for downside protection, as opposed to upside exposure, there was always a risk of a retracement,” said Vinokourov.
However, the situation looks more straightforward at this point, he claimed.
‘The Bulls Have Prevailed’
“At this stage, it appears that the bulls have prevailed, with key technical levels broken in the process,” said Vinokourov.
Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund manager BitBull Capital, offered some clarity on this matter, emphasizing that bitcoin’s “price was testing the 150-day moving average for the past week and finally broke through it today, breaching the resistance at $8,200.”
“Moving forward, the next resistance lies between $8,700 and $9,000,” he stated, adding that “Bitcoin is likely to consolidate and retest $8,000 as a support before trying to tackle those.”
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‘A Critical Juncture’
The markets have encountered ‘a critical juncture’ after bitcoin bounced back, recovering from the sharp declines it suffered in recent months, said Michael Collett, cofounder and chief marketing officer of digital asset management platform Stack.
“Should bears refrain from putting up much resistance to current movements, and dedicate themselves long term to their holdings, we can expect to see further price action upside as anticipation of the halving triggers bulls who see this as an opportunity to buy BTC at bargain basement rates before a price pop post halving,” he stated.
“Currently trending towards the $9,000 mark, despite sitting below $8,000 less than 24 hours ago — we may be about to see BTC further compound its tremendous gains as it outperformed the S&P 500, SSE Index, and Nikkei and even gold in YTD terms based on its performance already this week,” Collett added.
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“Set against the broader context of excessive monetary easing policies and ‘unlimited’ economic stimuli in major economies, these gains are likely just the beginning,” he predicted.
“Current monetary policies should only benefit bitcoin in the long term as fiat currencies will undoubtedly weaken as a result.”
Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether and EOS.
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