Greg Waisman, the co-founder and COO of the fintech company Mercuryo, shares his insights about the Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) monthly price movements.
Tesla Joins the Bitcoin Craze Pushing Prices to New All-Time HighsBitcoin kicked off February on a good posture. After enduring a month-long consolidation period that began on January 8th, BTC was able to slice through the $35,000 resistance barrier and resume its uptrend.By February 6th, the pioneer cryptocurrency had risen nearly 24% from the monthly open of $33,140 to $41,000.Although prices tumbled the following day, it seems like market participants entered a state of FOMO on February 8th when Tesla announced that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. The news was welcomed by the cryptocurrency community, pushing prices up by 20.30% on a single day.BTC went from trading at a low of $38,900 to a new all-time high of $46,750.Tesla’s announcement generated a lot of speculation in the cryptocurrency market. Multiple reports came out suggesting that Apple could be the next company to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet. Such sense of optimism and euphoria saw BTC rise another 24.50% between February 8th and February 21st to reach another record high of $58,370.While overleveraged traders were increasing their positions expecting Bitcoin to go higher, miners and whales began depositing their tokens to exchanges to book profits. The spike in supply led to a sell-off that caught market participants by surprise. More than $6.50 billion in liquidations were generated across the board as the BTC took a 26.30% nosedive to $43,000.Bitcoin was able to recover some of the losses incurred and closed February at $45,230, providing investors with a monthly return on investment of nearly 37%.Ethereum Debuts in CME But Fails to Meet ExpectationsEthereum entered February on the right foot as market participants were growing overwhelmingly bullish because one key player in the derivatives markets was introducing a new Ether based financial product. Indeed, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group’s (CME) launch of its ETH futures on February 8th set the stage for this cryptocurrency’s price action.In preparation for the event, cryptocurrency asset management firm Grayscale reopened its Ethereum Trust to accredited investors and closed a deal to buy more than $76 million worth of ETH. The significant spike in buying pressure pushed the smart-contracts token by more than 35%.It went from a monthly open of $1,313 to a high of $1,783 by the time CME’s Ether futures launched.Although some market participants expected a more volatile price movement, Ethereum uptrend remained slow but steady. By February 20th, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had advanced another 14.40% from its previous peak to make a new all-time high of $2,050.As speculation ran high in the market, the so-called “market makers” were looking for an opportunity to trap overleveraged traders. For Ethereum, it seems like the upswing above $2,000 was significant enough for whales to offload their Ether en masse.The spike in downward pressure saw Ethereum crash by nearly 37%, erasing all the gains made throughout February. As the monthly trading session came to an end, ETH was able to rebound and close at $1,420, providing a monthly return of 8%.Further Gains on the HorizonAfter one of the most vicious market crashes thus far this year, it seems like cryptocurrency enthusiasts fear a steeper correction. The number of Bitcoin and Ethereum related posts on social media has turned very pessimistic fueled by the uncertainty around seasonality.Given the crypto market’s performance over the last few years during the month of March, investors are convinced of further losses on the horizon.From a counter sentiment perspective, such sense of bearishness among market participants can be interpreted as a bullish signal. But for Bitcoin and Ethereum to resume their uptrends, the former would have to close above $50,000 and the latter above $1,500 on their respective daily charts. Moving past these resistance barriers could see BTC march towards $60,000 and ETH to $3,000 or higher.
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