Bitcoin is near $ 25,000, temporarily over $ 26,000 | coindesk JAPAN

Bitcoin (BTC) climbed above $26,000 for the first time in nine months on Thursday, before falling back slightly after being buoyed by benign inflation data and the banking sector recovering from near panic.

At the time of this writing, Bitcoin has risen about 2% in 24 hours, near $24,700. On the 14th, it temporarily rose in double digits for the second consecutive day. Around 10:25 on the 15th Japan time, it rose again to around $25,000.

US CPI slowing down

The US Labor Department announced on the 14th that February’s CPI slowed from 6.4% in January to 6% year-on-year, and the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, slowed to 5.5% from 5.6% in January. However, on a month-on-month basis, the CPI slowed down from 0.5% in January to 0.4% in February, while the core CPI was 0.5% higher than economists’ expectations of a 0.4% rise.

“I think it’s a healthy pullback after the euphoric rally that’s unique to crypto. I’m still surprised that the market shrugged off what happened over the weekend so quickly,” said research analyst at crypto data firm Kaiko. said Riyad Carey.

Markets are still illiquid, Carey said, which “makes these price moves even bigger.” He added that the news of a US Air Force drone colliding with a Russian fighter over the Black Sea “shook all markets.”

Bitcoin’s rise was fueled by a decision by U.S. banking and financial regulators to fully protect deposits at failed Silicon Valley and Signature banks, and concerns that overly aggressive tightening has caused near panic. On the other hand, it reflects investors’ wishful thinking that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will reverse its current hawkish stance.

Will the Fed change its hawkish stance?

James Lavish, managing partner of the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, said Bitcoin’s pullback on Thursday afternoon was due to Bitcoin’s “short run after crossing the $25,000 resistance, which is important for traders.” He said that it showed that he moved to risk hedging.

“Additionally, the CPI figures show that even if a 0.5% rate hike is out of the discussion now, it’s not over yet.”

In the options market, traders are pricing in an “explosive rise for Bitcoin” in 2023, said Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at crypto analytics firm Amberdata.

“Bitcoin is now being traded as an alternative currency rather than as a ‘risky asset’.” We were getting stronger, but with the bankruptcy, we finally got the real ‘pivot’ factor.”

other markets

Ethereum (ETH) also rose in the morning of the 12th, but then fell back. Up 1.5% in 24 hours, near $1705. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), which measures the performance of the entire cryptocurrency market, also rose 2%.

The stock market also rose. The S&P 500 rose 1.6%, the Nasdaq 2.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1%.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Takayuki Masuda
| Image: CoinDesk
｜Original: Bitcoin Gains Early, Fades Late to Trade Below $25K