Bitcoin (BTC) surged to highs not seen since June 2022 on Tuesday afternoon, breaking above $26,000 and nearing $26,500.
Evidence that US inflation is indeed coming under control feeds into the intraday rally, although BTC/USDT was already running hot against a chopped US dollar and was also in recovery mode following the drama surrounding Silicon Valley Bank and USD Coin-de – pegging.
BTC/USDT went into a fairly quick correction, but not before up to USD 100 million worth of bitcoin shorts were liquidated out of the market.
At the time of writing, the pair was trading in the upper regions of the 24k-25k channel, with the Binance order book showing selling pressure at USD 25,000 and buying support at USD 24,700.
Bitcoin (BTC) briefly touches June 2022 levels – Source: currency.com
Data shows that volumes for exchange-traded bitcoin are exceptionally high – in fact, the highest since early November 2022 – which usually encourages exciting price action… one way or the other.
Bitcoin (BTC) volumes are heating up – Source: blockchain.com
Data also shows that access on the centralized exchanges is high – this is often perceived as a bearish signal as it suggests anticipation of selling pressure.
On macro pressures, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announces his budget today.
Tax cuts are more or less off the menu, despite pleas from UK businesses, but on the plus side, pressure to reduce rate rises has heated up amid the semi-crisis in the financial sector.
Lower prices ultimately mean more risk appetite among traders, which ultimately means good for crypto, but it’s debatable how much the world’s sixth largest economy can really push the needle.
On the other hand, next Wednesday’s high-stakes interest rate decision from the US central bank will be in suspense. The Fed is expected to lower interest rates as well, which could galvanize the bulls.
Ethereum (ETH) topped an intraday high of $1,780 on Tuesday before facing a reversal. Not quite bitcoins peak in June, but manages to cause a $49M headache for ETH longs anyway.
ETH/USDT changed hands a few dollars below the persistently strong resistance point at USD 1,700 at the time of writing.
Altcoins are ahead
Few surprises among the top-20 altcoin set, with the likes of Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Solana (SOL), and BNB all managing to maintain high single-digit weekly gains.
Polkadot (DOT) has pulled ahead a bit, adding 11% week-on-week, while Tron (TRX) is underperforming the market, having added less than 1.5%.
SingularityNET’s AGIX token topped the charts by adding 42% overnight and 35% week-on-week.
AGIX has skyrocketed this year, increasing its market cap by 1,000% to $652 million. However, one wonders if, as a sign of an AI marketplace, it is simply riding the ChatGPT hype train.
Global cryptocurrency market capitalization is currently $1.1 billion, having added 2.3% overnight, while the total value locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) rose 1.3% to $48 billion.
