Cryptocurrencies on the rise; Bitcoin consolidates at $17,000
The cryptocurrency market starts the week on a good note after a weekend of gains. Bitcoin (BTC) surpasses $17,000 and has rebounded nearly 2% in the last 24 hours, consolidating at $17,300; meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) is approaching $1,300 after rising 3% in the last day.
However, can Bitcoin hold at these prices? It is difficult to predict, but what is certain is that the 'cryptos' behaviour has been remarkably positive in recent days. A notable amount of the recent rises is due to the statements made by Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), who last Wednesday left the door open to a future moderation in interest rate hikes by the US central bank, a more tempered stance that we could see as soon as December 14.
"It makes sense to moderate the pace at which we raise our interest rates as we approach the level of moderation that will be sufficient to reduce inflation," Powell acknowledged. However, the central banker also stressed that such hypothetical Fed moderation would be "much less significant" than the question of how far interest rates will have to go and how long it will be necessary to keep policy at a restrictive level.
"From a technical point of view, the range delimited by $15,500-$17,000/$17,500 remains in force," stated Javier Molina, senior market analyst at eToro. The expert highlighted a "downward adjustment of volatility in an environment of still pessimistic sentiment, which may be conducive to sharp movements in the short term."
"Prices below $15,000 would open the way to the "delta Price" which is now above $12,000. Above $17,500 would mean going for $20,000," explained Molina.
The market also continues to watch for developments surrounding FTX´s bankruptcy case, on which the CFTC already spoke. Last week, Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of the bankrupt exchange, gave several interviews in which he denied using FTX customer funds at his investment firm Alameda Research. "I never attempted to commit fraud," SBF assured.
"'I did not attempt to commit fraud' is not the same as 'I did not commit fraud.' It's the old 'yes I did, but I didn't intend to and I didn't know it was illegal' defense," which is, to put it mildly, poor," noted Neil Wilson, chief markets analyst at Markets.com. "I guess that's a pretty good epitaph for Sam Bankman-Fried, but it won't do much good for everyone who has lost everything on FTX. Considering what he is accused of, the magnitude of this monumental mess, to just dismiss the whole thing as a 'bad month' seems a bit arrogant and as if he still doesn't really understand what he did," he added.
In other market news, we are seeing widespread gains. The most notable are occurring for Litecoin (LTC), which rises 9.3%, as well as Shiba inu (SHIB) and Solana (SOL), that soar 5% and 4%, respectively. Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC) and Polkadot (DOT) ascend about 3%.