Bitcoin price breaks records

Bitcoin updated its all-time high, rolled back, but then still consolidated above the $69 thousand level. Experts associated the surges with the actions of investors who bet on a decline in the exchange rate and profit-taking after a period of growth. Cryptocurrency quotes are supported by the upcoming halving, ETFs, Fed actions and a number of other reasons. The market expects the level to be exceeded at $70 thousand, a correction after the halving and growth to $100 thousand by the end of the year.

According to Coinmarketcap, on March 10, the price of Bitcoin was at $69.7 thousand, a weekly increase of approximately 13%. The rally began on March 4, when the price of the world’s first cryptocurrency increased by more than 8% – to $68.2 thousand. A day later, on March 5, Bitcoin updated its historical maximum of 2021 at $69 thousand. Then its value rapidly collapsed, dropping to $59 thousand. In the following days, the cryptocurrency returned to growth.

The pullback occurred because investors hedge risks through futures contracts – “that’s where people make money,” says Vladislav Utushkin, founder of the MarsDAO group. “There are short sellers on the market (members of the crypto community who bet on a decline in the value of the asset.— “Kommersant”), many investors who bought crypto at the peak of the last bull run also woke up – some of them rushed to sell the crypto,” says Smart Blockchain founder Alex Reinhardt.

“On the weekly time frame, Bitcoin drew an “Adam and Eve” pattern; it appears on an uptrend and is characterized by long-term growth. Then a V-shaped movement occurs with a sharp decline and rise, followed by a long-term formation of a bowl,” says Andrey Podolyan, chief analyst at Cryptorg.

Experts interviewed by Kommersant note several drivers of Bitcoin growth. The first is the approaching halving in April. “This event, as observations show, brings Bitcoin into a phase of active growth due to the formation of a shortage of cryptocurrency in the market,” explains Mr. Reinhardt. The cryptocurrency has already experienced three halvings: in 2012, 2016 and 2020. Never in the entire history of the crypto industry has BTC updated its absolute maximum value, the expert adds.

The second driver was spot Bitcoin ETFs, experts say. Members of the crypto community have been fighting for the instrument to appear in the United States since 2013; in January, the SEC approved a Bitcoin ETF. They make cryptocurrency investing easy for a wide range of investors.

In addition, fresh data on unemployment in the United States has increased the likelihood of an early reduction in the Fed’s key interest rate, experts say. The changes are increasing market participants’ interest in high-risk assets such as cryptocurrency. For the crypto market, this is one positive factor that pushed Bitcoin up, Mr. Reinhardt notes.

The above factors also apply to other cryptocurrencies. Thus, at the end of the week, Ether surpassed Bitcoin in growth rates (15% versus 13%). Ethereum showed activity, including on the eve of the Dencun update, Mr. Reinhardt said. The upgrade, as planned by the developers, will reduce the cost of operations in the cryptocurrency network and improve its scalability, he explained. Positive news about the update and approval of spot ETFs for ether in the United States could accelerate the growth of the cryptocurrency, added Roman Nekrasov, co-founder of the ENCRY Foundation. The Shiba Inu cryptocurrency showed the fastest growth over the week – by more than 60%.

Experts interviewed by Kommersant expect a further rally in Bitcoin. Messrs. Reinhardt and Nekrasov believe that it can consolidate above $70 thousand.

After the halving, Bitcoin, and then the entire crypto market, “may go into a correction; in the wake of panic, the depth of the fall may be about 20%,” warns Mr. Nekrasov. However, “at the end of the year, a hike to $100 thousand is quite likely – by this time Bitcoin will have already recovered from a possible correction, the market will have cooled and gained strength for a new forced march,” Mr. Reinhardt believes. When “all weak hands are shaken out of the market,” a hike to $170 thousand and higher is already possible, clarifies Mr. Utushkin. In his opinion, “Bitcoin will move towards this level in mid-2025.”

Ksenia Kulikova