In the last hour, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) rose to $ 57,100, a level not seen since February 20, when the price of BTC reached a new high of $ 58,352. The bullish break signals that investor sentiment has shifted back in favor of the bulls and increases the likelihood that the BTC will attempt a race at the $ 60,000 level.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that Bitcoin jumped from a low of $ 52,998 in the early hours of the morning and started to rise 6.5% above the $ 57,000 level.
Today’s positive move was preceded by news that the Digital Currency Group plans to buy up to $ 250 million in shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The purchase comes at an interesting time, considering that on March 8, GBTC shares were traded at a 15% discount compared to the spot price of Bitcoin on major exchanges.
While institutional investors can receive credit for the current movement, the general interest in Bitcoin also continues to grow. Recent data shows that 10,000 Bitcoin ATMs have been installed in the United States since March 1, 2020, representing a 57.5% increase in the number of ATMs equipped with BTC last year.
Bitcoin ignores economic concerns weighing on stocks
In the past two weeks, the stock markets have been hurt by a drop in technology stocks and concerns about rising Treasury yields. Many analysts predicted that strengthening the dollar and increasing Treasury yield would negatively impact the price of Bitcoin.
According to Chad Steinglass, Head of Trading at CrossTower, the “underlying current in BTC is still incredibly good” as it seems that there are major traditional financial players getting involved with BTC on a daily basis.
Steinglass said the recent addition of Ether (ETH) to the balance sheet of Chinese software company Meitu is another positive development, as it demonstrates the growing prominence of cryptocurrencies in traditional finance.
Steinglass further explained that the BTC correction for the past two weeks was the result of a “massive sale of technology stocks” that hit the GBTC hard, as the “NAV discount that the GBTC traded reached 15%” in March 5 as European traders “ran in fear” with the closure of Europe’s stock markets.
Steinglass said:
I believe this caused a drop in BTC prices, as adventurous traders came on the scene to buy GBTC slowly while selling cash or futures. The fact that BTC spot prices were able to step on the water during this route was something that I found quite optimistic.
Altcoins Follow Bitcoin Breakdown
While Bitcoin targets the $ 60,000 level, several altcoins are also chasing new highs.
Theta (THETA), a blockchain-based video streaming platform, rose 18% in the last 24 hours to reach a new record of $ 5.92.
Meanwhile, Polygon (MATIC) received a 33% increase on March 9, when Coinbase announced that the token would be added to Coinbase Pro.
The overall capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is now at $ 1.74 trillion and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 61.1%.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you must conduct your own research when making a decision.