Bitcoin hit another all-time high above $35,000 on January 6 as bearish prognoses of a correction took another hit from the digital gold.
Data from price trackers including CoinMarketCap and TradingView followed a fresh resurgence for BTC/USD overnight on Tuesday, the pair topping out at $35,600.
After lingering near $30,000 support in the aftermath of Monday’s serial volatility, Bitcoin showed signs of a recovery during trading. These culminated in daily gains of more than 10%. At press time, $35,000 still formed a focal price point.
U.S. paves the way for on-chain to be the norm
The latest move came as a surprise to analysts, with even the short-term chart looking awkward as the gains upended a classic double top pattern which would otherwise signal an incoming correction.
“We did take liquidity above the (previous) high and now we are looking for support to see this rally continue,” trader Michaël van de Poppe summarized in a brief YouTube update on Wednesday.
Van de Poppe highlighted $33,900 and the area between $32,300 and $32,700 as targets for bulls to hold, the latter zone forming a “crucial breaker.”
The impetus for sudden bullishness appeared to come from the United States, where the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave official support for banks using public blockchains and stablecoins as settlement structures. This came as a shock to many, at a time when lawmakers were clamping down on cryptocurrency payments from the retail sector.
A separate theory suggested that the gains seen over the weekend were coming from insiders who already knew about the OCC announcement.
In comments afterwards, however, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of payment giant Circle, underscored the long-term positive implications for Bitcoin and other public cryptocurrencies including his company’s USDC stablecoin.
“We are on a path towards all major economic activity being executed on-chain,” he wrote. “It is tremendous to see such forward thinking support from the largest regulator of national banks in the United States.”
Keiser: $220,000 will come by November
As the news trickled in, Max Keiser, the RT host who ended up delivering the most accurate end-of-year price prediction for Bitcoin at $28,000, laid out his expectations for 2021.
Speaking to Stansberry Research this week, Keiser said that by later this year, BTC/USD should hit a giant $220,000.
“I wouldn’t say that’s where we end the year either,” he said. “Probably this $220,000 number you’re going to see in October/ November; it’ll be the high of the year.”
In a subsequent tweet, Keiser added that $42,000 was “about to fall” on the Bitcoin chart.
