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(Kitco News) – Crypto prices continued to rally on Wednesday after Bitcoin (BTC) tapped $45,000 on Coinbase for the first time since April 2022, while a new assortment of altcoins posted double-digit gains as recent high flyers underwent a correction.
Stocks opened the day higher but fell under pressure soon after, drifting lower throughout the trading day to a negative close. At the closing bell, the S&P, Down, and Nasdaq finished down 0.39%, 0.19%, and 0.58%, respectively.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield continued to decline, falling 1.2% to 4.121%, and the DXY put on a slight gain, increasing 0.2% to 104.19.
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin rallied to a yearly high of $45,000 late on Tuesday, and has since pulled back to support near $44,000, where bulls look to regroup and strategize their next move.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
Following Tuesday’s price surge, Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff noted that “December Bitcoin futures prices [were] a bit weaker in early U.S. trading Wednesday, after hitting another contract and 20-month high overnight.”
Bitcoin futures 1-day chart. Source: Kitco
“Bulls are still very strong. A price uptrend on the daily bar chart is firmly in place,” Wyckoff said. “Bulls hold the solid overall near-term technical advantage. More price upside is likely in the near term.”
Many analysts now feel that the Bitcoin rally is looking overheated and is due for a pullback, and that BTC won’t hit a new all-time high until after the halving in April 2024. The latest K33 Research report, however, said the push to a new all-time high will be “significantly quicker” this cycle.
It has been 755 days since Bitcoin peaked in November 2021, and BTC is trading 36% off its high of $69,000, the analysts noted. After the 2013 peak, it took 1,178 days for BTC to reclaim the high, and took 1,092 days to do so after the peak in 2017, they said.
BTC bear market drawdowns. Source: K33
“Neither of the past cycles saw institutional demand comparable to the current, with major financial institutions both participating in the space and vocally vouching for BTC in public,” the analysts said. “In 36 days, U.S. ETFs will receive their final verdict, and the market shows considerable demand to accumulate exposure ahead of anticipated launches.”
This has created a compelling narrative which is the main source of momentum behind the current run-up, they said, before noting that institutional investors continue to hold despite the recent surge in BTC price.
Analysts at QCP Capital noted that “Since the turn of the month, we have seen another exponential leg higher in spot BTC, already up 15% MTD in the first week, taking us to a whopping 260% gain YTD.”
They also attributed the move to speculation about a spot BTC ETF, noting that on Friday, the SEC announced that Jan. 5, 2024 “will be the final deadline for rebuttal comments, which officially sets up the following week after as the week for a likely approval.”
They entertained the idea that the SEC could approve the first spot BTC ETF on Jan. 3, as that is the 15th anniversary of the Bitcoin genesis block, but said, “Unfortunately, such symbolism is certainly lost on the SEC.”
“With BTC at close to 45k leading up to the official announcement in the second week of January, one has to ask how much of the news has been priced in,” they wrote. “From this point on, whether we revisit the 69k all-time high or not depends on the genuine flows the actual ETF will bring in the first few weeks of trading. Otherwise, this sets things up for the classic ‘sell-the-news’ moment next year.”
“We expect in an environment of low costs, tight spreads and thin margins, structured products could be one of the asset classes generating the most alpha – which is the case in other similar markets like gold,” the analysts said.
Market analyst Crypto Chief said if Bitcoin traders continue to engage above $44,000 in the near term, “then we could see another impulsive move, this time up to $46k where there is a big level of liquidity. BTC is pushing into a huge level here, $44k – $48.5k is a 2022 weekly supply zone and .618 fib level.”
BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: X
MN Trading founder Michaël van de Poppe said that BTC is currently in consolidation and will likely peak in the weeks ahead, and traders should not be surprised if a 20%-40% correction occurs.
#Bitcoin is consolidating and probably finding a top in the coming weeks.
The markets are in bull market vibes and corrections between 20-40% are there to be bought.
Position yourself into relatively new assets, they’ll make higher returns.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) December 6, 2023
Altcoin traders rotate holdings
The top 200 tokens in the altcoin market were evenly split between winners and losers on Wednesday, with recent gainers entering into consolidation while multiple underperformers posted double-digit gains.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Tron-based projects BitTorrent (BTT) and APENFT (NFT) were two of the largest gainers, increasing by 90.45% and 33.3%, respectively, while Helium (HNT) climbed 45.5%, and Venus (XVS) gained 24.6%. Aurora (AURORA) was the biggest loser, falling 11.2%, while IoTeX (IOTX) lost 11.2%, and Storj (STORJ) fell 8.7%.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.6 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 53.8%.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
