Since mid-December, bitcoin had failed to finish a trading day (universal coordinated time or UTC basis) over $17,000, and now analysts wonder if the largest cryptocurrency has formed a market bottom after a horrendous 2022.
Prices: Bitcoin decisively pushed past $17,000, appearing to break out of a three-week range. In the week ahead traders will be monitoring ongoing speculation involving Digital Currency Group, Tron, Huobi and Solana.
Insights: A fresh news report has rekindled speculation over whether the dominant crypto exchange Binance may be facing scrutiny over its anti-money-laundering controls.
Bitcoin pushes past $17K; Week ahead focus is on Fed, DCG, Solana, Tron
Bitcoin (BTC) decisively pushed past $17,000 on Sunday, breaking out of its recent price range to hit a three-week high.
The largest cryptocurrency had briefly topped $17,000 on Friday after data suggesting that U.S. services businesses were slowing – seen by traders in both digital-asset and traditional markets as a sign that the Federal Reserve might soon be able to ease up on its push to tighten financial conditions. But it took a couple more days for bitcoin to cement the move past a threshold that had effectively capped any rallies since mid-December.
Analysts were quick to point out that price charts are still tilting bearish, although Coinbase Institutional’s David Duong wrote in a report that a successful push past the $17,100 mark might put bitcoin on track toward the next technical level around $17,800.
According to FundStrat’s Sean Farrell, blockchain data suggests there are plenty of ready buyers with “appetite to buy BTC at the very specific level of $16,00-$17,200.”
“This paints an incredible picture of a strong buy wall at current market prices and suggests a strong bottom is forming,” Farrell wrote in a report.
At press time, the largest cryptocurrency was changing hands around $17,150, up 1.3% over the past 24 hours.
In the week ahead, bitcoin traders will be monitoring a key report on U.S. inflation – also theoretically an input to the Federal Reserve’s calculations. The central bank’s monetary tightening last week was a big factor in bitcoin 64% price decline last year, the worst annual performance in four years.
Elsewhere in digital-asset markets, traders will be continuing to monitor the speculation over the future of crypto conglomerate (and CoinDesk owner) Digital Currency Group and its subsidiary Genesis. Another thread is on the prospects for a rebound in Solana’s SOL token – one of the biggest “Sam coins” that became major casualties of last year’s implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. There’s also lingering bearish concerns about Tron’s TRX token and Huobi’s HT, both linked to the crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun.
Source: Coindesk
Recent Comments