Bitcoin prices hit their highest level since May 2022 amid a rally this week.
Dreamstime
Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies advanced Thursday, holding firm despite turmoil in the stock market that could have, in the past, rattled cryptos. Bets that digital assets have emerged as a haven amid geopolitical risks may be playing out.
The price of Bitcoin has risen 1% over the past 24 hours to around $34,450, inching closer to its recent peak above $35,000 reached earlier this week, which marks the highest level since cryptos descended into a brutal bear market in May 2022. The largest digital asset has jumped some 30% in two weeks, returning to its characteristic volatility after months of stagnating amid historically low trading volumes.
“We note a series of higher lows that brought the price closer to the upper bound of the consolidation range since Tuesday,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro. “We believe that Bitcoin remains in low-density territory, with key resistance levels of $38,000 or even $48,000. However, reaching the upper boundary in the coming weeks won’t be easy.”
Bitcoin has rallied, in large part, amid optimism that the Securities and Exchange Commission will soon allow the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to launch, viewed as a key catalyst that should usher in a fresh wave of investor interest.
But Bitcoin’s resilience in the face of turmoil in the stock market is particularly notable. Action in cryptos has often been linked to other risk-sensitive assets, like stocks, but Bitcoin has held firm and gained in the face of declines in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
S&P 500.
Stocks have fallen amid downbeat corporate earnings and—more influential for digital assets—worries over higher interest rates.
“The crypto market is holding its total capitalization … despite a frightening selloff in equities overnight. Bitcoin and other major altcoins are once again attempting to play the role of safe haven,” said Kuptsikevich.
Indeed, while Bitcoin has long been mooted as “digital gold,” it has, to say the least, not always acted like the yellow metal—as a haven asset where investors flee in times of volatility. That could be shifting. Analysts have highlighted Bitcoin’s increasing correlation with gold amid fresh conflict in the Middle East, which could pave the way for more gains for digital assets.
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—jumped 4% to $1,850. Smaller tokens or altcoins were also higher, with
Cardano
surging 5% and
Polygon
up 4%. Memecoins were even more buoyant, with
Dogecoin
rallying 10% and
Shiba Inu
climbing 9%.
Write to Jack Denton at [email protected]
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