Bitcoin price: ‘Relief’ as cryptocurrency surges 18% from year’s low

World’s largest cryptocurrency inches closer to $32,000 mark

Bitcoin’s price shot up by about eight per cent in the last week, taking its price nearly 18 per cent above its lowest mark this year of about $26,700.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency is currently valued at about $31,500, after being stuck in a bear run for most of the month.

The leading cryptocurrency was at its lowest this year on 12 May, slipping in value to about $26,750 following the crpyo market crash triggered by the uncoupling of so-called stablecoin TerraUSD (USDT) from its dollar peg.

“Bitcoin broke above $30,000, but it needs to hold the $29,300 level on a retest to suggest continuation to the upside,” Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at digital asset broker GlobalBlock, said on Monday.

“Relief has been long overdue in the crypto market, as the US stock market already rallied last week, after [US federal reserve head] Jerome Powell’s speech that gave the market clarity on their plans to carry out a soft economic landing,” Mr Sotiriou was quoted saying by CoinDesk.

Ethereum has also grown by about four per cent in the last 24 hours and is valued at $1,970.

The overall crypto market has also grown by about three per cent in the last day.

Bitcoin is up by three per cent in the last day and is inching closer to the $32,000 mark.

Prices of top cryptocurrencies over last 24 hours (Coin Market Cap)

This is, however, still over 50 per cent lower than the cryptocurrency’s all-time high of over $67,000 last November.

The crypto market crash earlier this month saw over $1.5tn wiped from the market with several analysts warning another “crypto winter” similar to 2018 could be underway.

Bitcoin started showing some signs of recovery in the week following the crash and reclaimed a $600bn market capitalisation on Tuesday.

This comes in the wake of a bump in Asian equities after reports that major Chinese cities, including Beijing, and financial sectors in Shanghai have started to ease pandemic restrictions after months of strict lockdowns.

Analysts said the relaxation of lockdowns in Chinese cities could lead to an increase in consumer spending, sparking cautious optimism.

“Technically, we remain cautiously short-term bullish. Bitcoin looking towards $36,000, possibly $40,000, providing Bitcoin remains above the recent $25,400 low,” Tony Sycamore, a market analyst from City Index, said on Tuesday.