BTC nears $30,000, hitting highest price since June

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For a while on Monday, even as large parts of the world were on holiday to celebrate Easter Monday, bitcoin (BTC) appeared to be heading for a promised land above $30,000.

The largest cryptocurrency by market cap, which just three weeks ago launched a run towards that threshold, rose above $29,300, its highest level since early June, amid renewed investor optimism . But the cause of the move was difficult to determine.

From around 10:00-11:00 ET (14:00-15:00 UTC), bitcoin was up almost 4%. It had lingered closer to $28,000 since mid-March when fears over the conventional banking system began to wane.

There is no clear catalyst for this spike, Edward Moya, senior market analyst for forex market maker Oanda, wrote in an email to CoinDesk, though he said the spike could come from in part from buying from crypto traders expressing their frustration on social media. on a one-sided New York Times article that challenged [bitcoin’s] energy consumption.

Moya also noted that the upside move came around news that Federal Home Loan Bank debt issuance had fallen, signaling that the banking crisis was easing.

Ether (ETH) also surged, breaking through the $1,900 level before pulling back. It was recently up around 1.7% from 24 hours earlier. Other major cryptos were largely in the green, albeit in light tones. ARB, the Arbitrum layer 2 blockchain token, recently rose by more than 2.8%, while XRP rose by around 1%. The CoinDesk Market Index, a measure of overall crypto market performance, recently rose 2.3%.

Stock indices closed roughly flat, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average rising a few percentage points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite losing 0.03%. Crypto-related stocks had a memorable day with crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) and enterprise bitcoin vault MicroStrategy (MSTR) both rising over 7.5%.

Markets will be watching the March Consumer Price Index (CPI) report this week for signs that inflation is continuing its recent downward trend.

In February, inflation in the United States slowed to 0.4% from 0.5% a month earlier and to 6% on an annual basis from 6.4% the previous month. Bitcoin surged above $26,000 following this report on March 14.

A continued slowdown could encourage central bankers to scale back their year-long regime of severe interest rate hikes, though the impact on bitcoin is uncertain. Crypto appeared to gain momentum following recent US bank failures that raised concerns about the mainstream financial system as investors turned to assets that hold value through good times and bad. times.

Investors will also assess the first wave of quarterly results, with banking giants JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup due to report results. Analysts are expecting a largely downgraded quarter, especially in the hard-hit financials sector.

BTC is also considered a reliable store of value that doesn’t have the problems of storing your money through a third-party intermediary or bank, Richard Mico, US CEO and General Counsel of Banxa, a payment – and compliance infrastructure provider to the crypto industry, wrote in an email to CoinDesk. This is further supported by the decreasing correlation with stock markets since 2021, BTC is now starting to be correctly perceived as a risky asset.

Joe DiPasquale, CEO of crypto fund manager BitBull Capital, was cautiously optimistic about the sustainability of the bitcoin surge on Monday.

Bitcoin is likely to find resistance at $30,000, DiPasquale noted in an email to CoinDesk. From a technical analysis perspective, the current move is a retest of the high end set in March after the initial push below $20,000. Success in this test would see the price claim $30,000 while a failure here should see BTC drop to $25,000, followed by $23,000.

But he added: The current price is also testing the lows of July 2021, where the market rebounded in another big rally.

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