Bitcoin posted new weekly highs above $52,000 as a resurgence in positive sentiment combined with persistent institutional buying.
Data from price trackers including CoinMarketCap and Tradingview logged 7.5% daily gains for BTC/USD on Wednesday.
BTC price beats weekly highs
In a marked contrast to the previous week, sideways trading gave way to fresh upside, with local highs of $52,652 appearing before an initial correction of over $1,000.
Such large daily or even hourly candles have become standard practice for Bitcoin this year, and on the day, traders were still more than optimistic about its short-term prospects.
“Zooming into the hourly and getting a bit more granular, you can see that we potentially have a clean little bull flag forming – consolidation under resistance. This usually leads to a move up through resistance,” Scott Melker forecast in a series of tweets late on Tuesday.
In the event, resistance at $52,000, the sight of last week’s top, provided no barrier to a spike higher.
“That went well,” Melker added in an update.
“Price broke out of both patterns, the local bull flag and descending channel. It is also currently trading above the 50% retracement level of the entire move, so holding above ~$50,600 would be very bullish. Let’s keep this momentum.”
Analyzing exchange data, Ki Young Ju, CEO of on-chain analytics resource CryptoQuant, argued that to all intents and purposes, the BTC price dip had finished after its brief visit to $43,000.
“Coinbase whales are most affected by the macro environment, I think their buying indicates the correction is over,” he said on Monday.
Since then, another spike in outflows from professional trading platform Coinbase Pro has leant additional weight to the theory that accumulation is continuing even as BTC/USD has been rising.
“Another institutional buying at 48.6k,” Ki added after a 12,000 BTC batch left the exchange.
Elizabeth Warren “opposes progress”
With momentum back behind Bitcoin, there was no hint of anxiety about fresh bearishness from U.S. lawmakers.
Unlike comments by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last month, which precipitated the dive from $58,300 all-time highs, a vote of no confidence from Senator Elizabeth Warren on CNBC merely drew derision—and not just from Bitcoin sources.
In an interview, Warren agreed with Yellen’s description of Bitcoin as “speculative in nature and going to end badly.”
“I think that Janet’s a really smart woman,” she told the network.
Responding, new Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who made headlines on her nomination due to her pro-Bitcoin stance, hit back at Warren and the official line on cryptocurrency.
“America’s most progressive senator opposes progress,” part of a series of tweets reads.
“Innovation is inherently speculative. If we dismiss it, we miss it. And another country will become the beneficiary of financial innovation, diminishing America’s place in the world.”
