Bitcoin briefly surges past $80K as crypto rally rages on: Heres how long its expected to last
Bitcoin briefly surged past $80,000 in early trading Tuesday, extending gains from a cryptocurrency rally last week amid renewed investor appetite for riskier assets.The top cryptocurrency was last seen trading 0.5% higher at $79,361.32 around 12 p.m.ET Tuesday. Crypto-related stocks like Robinhood, Coinbase and Strategy rose 6.9%, 4% and 3.4%, respectively.“This momentum has caught the attention of investors who had previously been looking elsewhere, and we are now seeing retail participants and smaller wallets begin to take positions,” Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent, said in a note Tuesday.“This comes ahead of what some analysts, myself included, expect could be a continued ascent for Bitcoin, potentially taking BTC towards $100,000 by year-end.”Last week, Bitcoin roared more than 20% higher over three days for its largest three-day gain since 2023, partly fueled by a short squeeze as more than $4 billion worth of bearish crypto positions were liquidated. It was triggered by the Treasury Department’s pledge to “at least double” its debt buybacks, which briefly sent Treasury yields lower and revived demand for risky assets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said accelerated buybacks could surpass the planned $4 billion mark. Mounting concerns over inflation and rising government debt also revived institutional investor interest in alternative assets.US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds drew in $1.92 billion in net inflows last week – their largest weekly haul since October. But it’s unclear whether the rally will last and put an end to a long crypto winter.
Bitcoin saw a similar boost in January 2023, for example, that ended up being short-lived.Nic Puckrin, founder of Coin Bureau, said Bitcoin is vulnerable to a sudden reversal after $4 billion in short positions were liquidated, since there’s less fuel to propel the rally further.“Everything hinges on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s keynote at Jackson Hole on Friday,” Puckri...