Bitcoin price stayed above $ 41,000, its highest level since May, after a 10-day winning streak that was the longest in eight years for the largest cryptocurrency.
At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) changed hands at $ 41,344, up 6.2% over the past 24 hours. Other CoinDesk 20 digital assets were also in the green, with Ether (ETH) increasing 4.5% to $ 2,453 and Chainlink (LINK) increasing 13% to $ 21.72.
Although Bitcoin price fell after Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on Saturday, it had seen 10 consecutive daily increases from July 21 through Friday, the longest winning streak since 2013.
Bitcoin hit an all-time high near $ 65,000 in mid-April when market euphoria peaked and US exchange Coinbase went public through a direct listing. But the price fell over the next few months as China cracked down on cryptocurrency mining and exchanges and regulators around the world began tightening industry rules. The Federal Reserve began considering reducing its $ 120 billion monthly asset purchases – a form of extreme monetary stimulus that was a major factor in the investment narrative that Bitcoin could serve as an effective protection against inflation and currency devaluation.
Retail investors who had amassed bitcoins when prices skyrocketed earlier in the year left their positions while large institutional investors were reluctant to enter the market at high valuations. Prices traded in a range between $ 30,000 and $ 40,000 for about two months.
But after Bitcoin fell just below $ 30,000 on July 20, the cryptocurrency began a steady climb that took it to 18% in July, its first monthly surge in three months.
“The incredible winning streak comes at a very strange time when the FUD is thick,” wrote Mati Greenspan, founder of cryptocurrency and currency analysis firm Quantum Economics, in a newsletter on Friday. FUD is an acronym for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt,” a term often used by crypto traders and analysts to refer to negative news.
Bitcoin price resistance is still viewed as stiff in the lower $ 40,000 range: “BTC is potentially domain-bound until it breaks and closes above $ 42,000,” according to digital asset company Eqonex. “Trendline support has increased to $ 38,200, with $ 36,500 being the closest support.”
But some industry analysts are now wondering aloud whether the worst bitcoin bear market is possibly over.
“Something feels different this week,” Coinbase wrote in a market analysis on Saturday. “Max fear seems to have disappeared.”
In the year to date, Bitcoin has risen 43%, far exceeding the 17% gain since the start of the year in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
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