Awaiting the last Bitcoin mile

Bitcoin rose 12.6% to finish near $21,600 but is bouncing back from gains to the $20,500 area at the start of the day, recording a 3.9% decline in the last 24 hours. Ethereum essentially copies the dynamics of the first cryptocurrency, losing 3.8% in 24 hours to $1150. Altcoins from the top 10 are losing between 2.4% (BNB) and 5.5% (Solana).

Total crypto market capitalisation, according to CoinMarketCap, rose 5.8% over the week to $916bn. Bitcoin’s dominance index climbed 0.6 to 42.8% over the same period.

The Cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index rose 13 points for the week to 24 but lost 2 points by Monday and remains in ‘extreme fear’.

BTC’s rise last week was halted by the 200-week moving average, now passing near $22,500. Bitcoin has continued to move sideways for three weeks near the critical $20,000 level, the high of the previous cycle.

BTC has never previously fallen below such marks, so it is now getting support from buyers confident in the first cryptocurrency’s long-term growth. Another supportive factor was the rebound in financial markets, where the new half-year was met with increased buying.

However, as always in recent months, there are many questions about the sustainability of the rebound amid the Fed’s sharp interest rate rise and a slowing economy.

Rockefeller International managing director Ruchir Sharma believes the deleveraging process is not over, and BTC could still fall in the next six months as the stock market declines.

Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz said that the decline of the cryptocurrency market is close to being over. However, there could be a final “tug” from the bears shortly. He stressed that he does not believe BTC will fall to $13,000.

Cryptocurrency lending service Celsius has transferred 25,000 wBTC tokens worth $528m to the FTX exchange. The market fears Celsius will sell the tokens and crash the bitcoin exchange rate. According to Arkham, Celsius has lost $390m of client funds on investments in DeFi and NFT.

Nobuaki Kobayashi, the trustee of the bankrupt Mt.Gox exchange, has begun preparations to reimburse creditors. The situation on the market could worsen if 150,000 BTC were distributed among MtGox users and immediately flooded the market.

The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is investigating Voyager Digital. According to the agency, the cryptocurrency broker deceived users by claiming their assets were protected by the agency’s program.

---