Bitcoin rises 4.4% to US$46,499

[BENGALURU] Bitcoin surged 4.41 per cent to US$46,499.29 at 22:07 GMT on Sunday, adding US$1,963.64 to its previous close.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest and best-known cryptocurrency, is up 41.1 per cent from the year's low of US$32,950.72 on Jan 24.

Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, surged 3.92 per cent to US$3,270.67 on Sunday, adding US$123.45 to its previous close.

Bitcoin's stealth rally over the past two weeks not only pushed it past a key level of US$45,000 - it also put the world's biggest cryptocurrency back in positive territory for the year. The token rose to around US$47,000 at 3:30 pm in Hong Kong, well above the US$35,000-to-US$45,000 range where it has been stuck since early January. With the fresh gains, Bitcoin is now up about 1.4 per cent for the year, compared with a 4.7 per cent decline for the S&P 500.

If Bitcoin can keep breaking through "in a meaningful way", it should gain a lot of upside momentum, said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co. Rick Bensignor, the president of Bensignor Investment Strategies, said in a note on Sunday that Bitcoin is "on the verge of a 20 per cent run higher". The coin has been stuck in a tight path as the Federal Reserve and other central banks remove some of the stimulus measures they put in place in response to the pandemic downturn. That means there is less cash to go toward riskier assets, including crypto.

In addition, digital currencies came under scrutiny, with speculation swirling that they could be used to skirt Russian sanctions, though many analysts rebuff that claim. Even so, Bitcoin and other tokens like Ether started a steady advance this month alongside broader increases in US stocks. But it took until the past day for Bitcoin to convincingly take out US$45,000, a level it had only briefly touched since early January. "As we test the top of the 2022 trading range for the 5th time, this is another one of these Bitcoin moments when the narrative could swiftly change and investors pile in, propelling the Bitcoin price higher," said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner at Nexo. "It might just be time to awaken from the Bitcoin-sideways slumber that's been 2022."

For all of Bitcoin's recent strength, its performance has been bested over the past few days by alt coins like Cardano, Solana, Polkadot and Dogecoin. Cardano in particular has found favour with traders, jumping 31 per cent over the past five days. Those tokens remain down for 2022, however. Bitcoin was well above its 50-day moving average, which currently sits around US$41,085. That puts it around the 80th to 90th percentile and in the "overbought" range, according to Bespoke Investment Group. But, though that signals potential for a downturn in price for many assets, with Bitcoin it's historically been the opposite, the firm said.

Bitcoin's gains since mid-March - even as Russia's war in Ukraine dragged on - also bolstered it versus gold, its traditional safe-haven rival, which traded sideways during the period.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG