Bitcoin continued its recent upswing on Monday, rising above $27,400 at one point – its highest point since August 31. It remained in positive territory even after a midday slide.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading near $26,814, up about a percentage point over the past 24 hours. BTC has risen more than 7% over the past week. It sank below $25,000 last Monday but began surging after the release of encouraging economic data from China, and amid the growing likelihood that the U.S. central bank will not raise interest rates at its meeting this week.
Yet Conor Ryder, head of research and data at USDe stablecoin creator Ethena Labs, doubted the staying power of the recent rally, including Monday’s jump.
“There’s still too much uncertainty to expect a prolonged and durable rally,” Ryder wrote in an email to Unchained. “This brief surge is more indicative of the sort of sideways action in a market that is still very much in a recovery phase from the tumult experienced last year.”
Ryder wrote that macroeconomic conditions, particularly inflation and “regulatory uncertainty” in the crypto space, including the possibility that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could delay or reject proposed spot bitcoin ETFs, were dragging on markets. In addition, the ongoing legal process involving FTX remained unsettling for markets.
Still, Ryder was optimistic about the digital asset industry’s medium- and longer-term future, given the rising interest of financial services giants, including Visa and PayPal, which recently announced initiatives to enable stablecoin payments.
“I expect more such developments to occur, including in the realm of tokenizing real-world assets,” he wrote. “And in the next year or so, we’ll likely be experiencing a number of positive catalysts for the industry, such as the forthcoming bitcoin halving.”
“For now, though, it’s mostly a game of patience and gradual accumulation,” he added.
Read more: Should First-Time Bitcoin Investors Buy Now or Wait for the ETF?
Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency in market value, was recently changing hands at $1,640, a 0.8% gain from Sunday, the same time. ETH has also risen more than 6% during the past seven days, buoyed by the same favorable winds that have carried BTC. Other altcoins were in the green with SOL and ADA, the tokens of smart contract platforms Solana and Cardano recently up more than 1.6% and 4%, respectively, over the past day.
TON, the native crypto of layer 3 blockchain infrastructure provider, Toncoin, was up more than 5%. Toncoin has spiked since last week when the messaging app Telegram announced that it would integrate the TON network into its app.
Cryptocurrencies veered slightly from equity markets, which were flat. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.10%, while the S&P 500 was even more slightly in negative territory.
What’s to Come
Investors will be closely watching the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy meeting, which begins Tuesday. The CME Federal Funds Rate tool, a widely watched predictor of Federal Reserve monetary policy, now forecasts a 99% probability that the bank will not raise interest rates, although many Fed observers believe it will return to rate hikes later this year, given inflation’s stubbornness. The Consumer Price and Producer Price Indexes for August took disappointing turns upward earlier this month after months of decline. The 3.7% CPI was higher than the previous month’s 3% reading and well outside the Fed’s 2% target.
Read more: The Bitcoin ETF Is a Double-Edged Sword
Still, in comments to Unchained, Joe DiPasquale, the CEO of digital asset manager BitBull Capital, struck a hopeful tone, suggesting that bitcoin could rise in the weeks ahead.
“Although the resistance at $27K led to sell-off pressure, pushing prices just below, we believe the consolidation in the last week to just under this level has brought strength and support and could lead to a breakout past $27.5K in the near future.”
He added: “Other assets, including Ethereum and Solana, saw similar movements. As the assets continue to gain support at their current levels, we expect further testing of resistance lines and fewer sell-offs as they pass through those lines.”
