Bitcoin price accelerates above $20,000 and points to further increases

The cryptocurrency market is extending the rebound that began on Thursday, with Bitcoin at the head of the gains, as it´s accelerating its advance after once again surpassing the $20,000 mark. The digital currency par excellence is up 6% in 24 hours, to its highest level since the end of August, at $20,500, largely thanks to the pause in the dollar rally that is also extending on Friday. The green prevails for the 'altcoins' and total capitalization exceeds the billion-dollar barrier for the first time in more than 10 days.

The second most popular token, Ethereum, is up 3.2% in 24 hours and trades at $1,700. The advance is up 6.8% since last week. Bitcoin and Ethereum have market capitalizations of $387.67 billion and $204.41 billion, respectively.

Experts expect the rise of the leading digital currency to continue in the coming days and pull the entire market, as is pointed out by the RSI (Relative Strength Index), which is showing a bullish divergence on the daily time frame. "This occurs when the price makes a lower low and the RSI indicator makes a higher high, as this usually points to a future uptrend," explained Marcus Sotiriou, analyst at GlobalBlock.

However, he calls for caution as the macroeconomic environment continues to cause investors to fear as the European energy crisis dominates the headlines. Germany's sanctions against Russia have led to the shutdown of the NordStream pipeline, which has sent gas prices soaring: Germans have taken to the streets to protest against their country's sanctions that have provoked Russia's reaction.

However, while this news encourages the pessimists, Bitcoin fundamentals are growing day by day, as the number of Bitcoins on the Lightning Network continues to set record highs. There are nearly 4,700 Bitcoin on the Lightning Network. MicroStrategy announced on Tuesday that it is working on solutions to bring millions of people onto the Lightning Network.

The Lightning Network is a scalability solution built on Bitcoin, allowing users to quickly send and receive BTC with virtually no fees, "so if this is adopted globally, 'crypto' will have strong utility with a payments network," Sotiriou commented.

Investors have also decided to overlook White House statements that cryptocurrency mining could hinder the United States' ability to fight climate change.

Cryptocurrency operations in the United States now consume as much energy as all home computers or all residential lighting, the White House stated in a report. The report follows President Joe Biden's executive order in March, which called on the government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies.