How far will Bitcoin´s price rally go? These are the levels to watch

Bitcoin´s rally continued its course on Wednesday and Thursday, in the heat of the US inflation data, as it showed how price pressure in the world's first economy eased, sending a wave of risk appetite to all global markets. In cryptocurrencies, buying continued to pump up the major tokens by market capitalization, with BTC hitting a two-month high at $24,822, according to CoinMarketCap, but the leading digital currency failed to hold $24,000 in closing prices on Thursday. However, the bull run still has room to run, experts indicate, to at least $26,000.

Bitcoin soared about 6% since the lower-than-expected inflation data. The U.S. CPI reading for July was 8.5% year-on-year. "This is 0.6% lower than the 8.7% expected, and is therefore positive news for risk markets such as cryptocurrencies and equities," commented Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at GlobalBlock.

"Cryptoassets took the inflation news very well and continue to do so," noted Craig Erlam, an analyst at Oanda. "The slowing of monetary tightening needs by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and improving risk appetite is music to the ears of the cryptocurrency community, which will be more confident that the worst is behind them than it has been at any point this year," he added.

Whether that means stellar gains lie ahead is another matter. True, the price hit a new two-month high, but "I'm still not seeing the momentum that I would expect and hope for," stated Erlam, "That can change, of course, and a break of $25,000 could bring it, but we still seem to be seeing some apprehension that may hold back near-term rallies," the analyst warned.

However, it is worth noting that the slowdown in inflation is the first good news regarding the macroeconomy in months, so other experts believe it will be welcome, "and will allow Bitcoin to break above $26,000 in the coming weeks," Sotiriou explained. "The fact that inflation slowed will give markets some breathing room over the next month, as we have an indication that escalating prices may have peaked in the US," he added.

Technical analysis was already anticipating that the target for the rises was precisely $26,000, but the absence of catalysts did not quite lift the price of the most traded of the digital currencies. If this level is surpassed, the next target is the high of June 13th, around $26,800. After that, the next resistances are at $28,500 and $30,000, in round figures. The most immediate support is at $22,000.

ETHEREUM AND THE MERGE

Ethereum core developers are meeting to decide when exactly they will release the update on the Ethereum blockchain. Previous forecasts were that 'The Merge' would be made official around mid-September, with the 19th being the most likely date.

In the last 30 days, the value of Ether, the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, has risen nearly 80%, with a 10% increase in the last 24 hours alone. It now trades at around $1,875. However, year-over-year declines of around 50% persist.