Flagship cryptocurrency asset, Bitcoin late last night traded above the $40,000 trading zone briefly, after falling below the $35,000 zone due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Bitcoin gained over $5,000 or 16.80% from yesterday’s low of $34,459 to trade as high as $40,250, in what many are calling a relief rally.
Markets globally felt the impact of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, which marked the beginning of a full-scale invasion of its neighbour. The cryptocurrency market was not left unscathed as its market capitalization fell below the $1.5 trillion zone. However, this has recovered as it currently trades $1.72 trillion as of the time of this writing.
As you would expect, altcoins also bounced back from the losses seen yesterday. Ether for example, which fell below the $2,300 zone briefly, quickly saw a recovery alongside Bitcoin as it currently trades $2,603 per coin.
Crypto market outlook
- As of the time of writing this report, the top 20 cryptocurrencies are seeing gains of 10% and above with Terra’s LUNA token leading the charged with a gain of over 20%. The token also made its way to the top 10 by market capitalization and it currently ranks #9 with a market capitalization of $25.3 billion.
- The last-minute rally seen at the start of the Asian means that the cryptocurrency market has completely recovered from losses seen earlier in the day yesterday. The rally is majorly attributable to Bitcoin hitting a key support zone, where many buy ordered were filled.
- Data from Coinglass reveals that in the past 24 hours, 94,769 traders were liquidated, amounting to total liquidations of $439.61 million. Longs accounted for $155.45 million which represents 35.36% which shorts accounted for the rest. This also indicated that most liquidation happened towards the end of the New York/ at the beginning of the Asian session as that was when Bitcoin saw a significant price increase.
What they are saying
Despite this positive outlook, Pentoshi, the head of partnership at Merit Circle DAO, expressed wariness “of the overall macro environment,” which “looks pretty dire.” In a follow-up tweet, he held firm with the projection that BTC will eventually trade higher from here. Pentoshi stated, “BTC now in the blue value zone. Not exactly the path I’d hoped to take to get here. I think in time this will have been a great buy area.”
David Lifchitz, managing director and chief investment officer at ExoAlpha, noted that “Bitcoin and other cryptos have been moving up and down in tandem with the Russia/Ukraine news,” so the plunge in cryptos and other assets was expected following “the first, even if surgical, strikes in Ukraine.”
He further explained that Bitcoin’s recent low “was near the low of the range it has been stuck in for weeks now,” and suggested that “the direction of Bitcoin and other cryptos will be driven by what happens in the next couple of days with the Ukraine-Russia situation.”
With the Russian – Ukraine crisis in full swing, traders are advised to trade markets with caution as volatility is at an all-time high. Bitcoin currently has fallen below the $40,000 range, as it currently trades $38,612 as of the time of this writing.
