Bitcoin moves above $30,000 for the first time since June 2022

Bitcoin (BTC) has moved above $30,000 for the first time since June 2022, after it climbed 8% in the last four days, CoinMarketCap data reveals.

The foremost cryptocurrency has gained 82% since December 31, easily outperforming the Nasdaq 100 tech index’s 19% gain. Similarly, Gold has risen 9.6% this year, making it another investor favourite.

Bitcoin soared past where it stood when hedge fund Three Arrows Capital imploded last summer, but it is still more than 50% below its all-time high of November 2021. Expectations that the US banking crisis in March will force the Federal Reserve to pause rate hikes reinforce Bitcoin’s partial recovery.

This has fueled Bitcoin bulls’ belief that the token will benefit from lower real interest rates and provide a haven from the turmoil in traditional finance.

In the last 24 hours, the global crypto market has risen by 4%, as the market cap currently stands at $1.2 trillion, with 47% dominance by Bitcoin (BTC).

Chief Executive at Quantum Economics, Mati Greenspan, said, “30k is very significant for both technical and fundamental reasons.”

“The resistance has been building up for three weeks straight and has now finally broken. This is the first time we’ve crossed that level since the collapse of Terra/Luna and Three Arrows Capital. It basically means that the price has fully recovered from Celsius, FTX, and the US regulatory crackdown.”

“This rally may, in part, be driven by the expectation that rate hikes are almost done, but some groups of investors are drawn to crypto because it’s an asset outside of traditional banking and finance,” said Bradley Duke, co-chief executive officer of crypto exchange-traded product provider ETC Group.

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More details about Bitcoin’s spike

Bloomberg reports that Bitcoin’s break above stiff resistance at $30,000 comes after a so-called Bollinger Band squeeze, which saw historical volatility fall to its lowest since January.

The compression at that time resulted in a sharp upward movement, similar to Tuesday’s upside trend. Traders looking for technical patterns may now consider $30,800 as a first potential target, followed by $31,200.

If Bitcoin breaks through the above thresholds, it takes it through another psychologically crucial barrier: eradicating the losses recorded at the start of the TerraUSD stablecoin breakdown last May. The crash of TerraUSD spearheaded the market’s plunge into recurrent woes, which was helped by the collapse of famous exchanges like FTX and lender Celsius Network, amongst others.

Notably, this spike does not in any way mean that the crypto industry is without scrutiny and intense monitoring from governmental regulations. For instance, crypto exchange Coinbase Global mentioned that it got a notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission declaring its plan to establish an enforcement action. The SEC has filed a lawsuit against crypto mogul Justin Sun for allegedly violating securities laws.

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Mr. Sun, on the other hand, believes the case is without merit. In other news, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and his crypto exchange for alleged derivatives regulation violations, though Binance has stated that it disagrees with many of the agency’s conclusions.

Despite the setbacks, Bitcoin’s rally has gained strength in the last month due to the failure of three US banks, which has resurrected the narrative among Bitcoin bulls that the token offers a more appealing alternative to traditional finance.

Analysts believe that a drop in liquidity to a 10-month low — caused by market makers’ loss of access to US banking rails provided by Silvergate Capital Corporation and Signature Bank — could also explain, at least in part, the rebound. Price swings can appear more dramatic when trading volume is lower.