Excitement over Bitcoin’s upcoming halving and an overall risk-on environment are pushing up cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin reached its highest level since before the coronavirus-induced crash, gaining as much as 8.7% to $8,406.
Cryptocurrencies have moved in tandem with riskier assets – stocks are up more than 30% – over the past month but many crypto fans are also pointing to Bitcoin’s so-called halving, which reduces the number of rewards miners receive.
Ahead of Bitcoin’s last two halvings (it’s sometimes referred to as a halvening), it surged, with some enthusiasts positing the same could happen this time around.
From Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA:
"The Bitcoin halving in under two weeks may explain some of the bullish activity by speculators. But you have to think that an event that has been in the diary for so long will already be priced in. This could see some of these moves faded as we hit halving day.”
With Wednesday’s jump above $8,000, the largest cryptocurrency entered overbought territory based on the GTI Global Strength Indicator.
Assets are considered overbought if the reading exceeds 70 and could indicate that it may be difficult for the token to notch additional gains in the short-run.
Here’s what others are saying:
Charles Hayter, co-founder and CEO at CryptoCompare:
“The crypto market in 2020 is very different from previous halvings, and the impact of miners selling their Bitcoins differs substantially this time around. This will likely dampen the post-halving impacts from miner selling,” he said. “The impact of Covid-19 so close to the halving and Bitcoin’s correlation to equity markets means we may not see significant surges in price due to the halving.”
Christel Quek, chief commercial officer and co-founder at Bolt Global:
“This is an unprecedented time as liquidity remains a priority for investors fleeing equity markets. Therefore, while Bitcoin should rise into $10,000s after the halving, it could be followed with a price drop as investors engage in profit taking,” said Quek. “No level of technical support can stand when the economy is drained.”
