The price of bitcoin has crossed over the psychologically important $50,000 level this week for the first time since December 2021. The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization rallied roughly 15% over the past week to hit $50,000 on Monday afternoon, riding a wave of bullish sentiment in crypto markets.
Several factors are contributing to bitcoin’s renewed momentum above $50,000. Firstly, the recent launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has provided a boost to bitcoin prices. These ETFs, which hold actual bitcoin rather than bitcoin futures, have seen strong inflows from investors. According to data from Bloomberg, spot bitcoin ETFs recorded their second largest day of inflows last Friday, totaling over $540 million.
The two largest bitcoin ETFs – BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust – have accumulated substantial assets after only one month of trading. The combination of easy access to bitcoin exposure through these ETFs along with optimism around the scheduled halving event in 2024 seems to be driving enthusiasm and higher prices.
The upcoming bitcoin halving, expected to occur in mid-2024, will see the bitcoin mining reward cut in half from 6.25 bitcoin per block currently to 3.125 bitcoin. This quadrennial event has historically been bullish for bitcoin prices over the long-term. According to a recent report from Grayscale Investments, while the halving poses challenges to miners in the form of reduced block rewards, innovations like Layer 2 scaling solutions could offset this by lowering transaction fees and enhancing throughput.
Beyond market structure changes like the ETFs and the halving, bitcoin also received a small boost from a geopolitical event last week. The re-election of pro-bitcoin President Nayib Bukele in El Salvador for another 5 year term was cheered by cryptocurrency advocates. El Salvador under Bukele was the first country to make bitcoin legal tender in 2021. While Bukele’s visions of a bitcoin-powered economy have stumbled, his re-election signals continued support.
After hitting the historic $50,000 mark, bitcoin pulled back modestly but has remained firmly above $48,000 over the past few days. The key question now is whether bitcoin can rise and continue trading stably above $50,000, which would signal a definitive change in market structure according to analysts.
Previous rallies above $50,000 over the past two years have been short-lived, with bitcoin failing to establish support at those levels. In March 2022, bitcoin briefly topped $48,000 before slipping back down. And in early January this year, bitcoin hit $50,000 but quickly dropped below $45,000 within days.
This time, bitcoin investors are hopeful that conditions are ripe for bitcoin to finally break out above $50,000. Analysts at Bernstein recently predicted a “fear of missing out” or FOMO rally in bitcoin, as momentum builds following the breach of $50,000. However, bitcoin remains highly volatile, as evidenced by its drop from all-time highs near $69,000 in November 2021 down to below $20,000 by the end of 2022.
Market analysts will be monitoring key support and resistance levels, like the 200-day moving average near $46,500. As long as bitcoin can avoid dropping below these key technical levels, the bullish case remains intact. But buyers will need to maintain consistent support above $50,000 and catalyze follow-on demand in order for this latest move higher to be sustainable. Other factors like rising interest rates and broad macroeconomic uncertainty still pose downside risks.
Nonetheless, the combination of factors lining up in bitcoin’s favor – the surging interest and inflows into spot ETFs, optimistic narrative around the halving, and the breakout above $50,000 – has many crypto investors calling this bitcoin’s next bull run. As bitcoin solidifies its status within mainstream finance and garners attention from major institutional players like BlackRock and Fidelity, the dynamics appear to be changing in favor of greater price stability and less volatility. But bitcoin’s freewheeling ways are difficult to tame. We will soon find out in the coming weeks and months if bitcoin has finally matured enough to leave its past boom and bust cycles behind.