Bitcoin Surpasses $44,000, Up 48% Since Late October

The world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), continues its impressive streak with its first climb above $44,000 since April 2022.

Market movements of top cryptocurrencies on 06:10 AM, December 6, 2023. Photo: Coin360

In the early hours of December 6, 2023, Bitcoin recorded new upward movements, surging from $42,750 to $44,488 on Binance. This marks the highest price level BTC has achieved since early April 2022, erasing losses from both the LUNA/UST crash in May and the FTX crash in November of the same year.

Calculating from its $30,000 price point at the end of October 2023, the world's largest cryptocurrency has risen by over 48% in just 1.5 months, driven by momentum from Wall Street's ETF efforts. This resurgence signals a strong comeback.

1D chart of the BTC/USDT pair on Binance at 06:10 AM on 06/12/2023

Recent times have also seen many Bitcoin whales returning with large volume purchases, notably MicroStrategy and the BitMEX exchange. These institutional BTC holdings, along with Tether and El Salvador's national reserves, have shown significant profitability following a challenging 2022.

With optimism pervading the market, numerous predictions suggest that this is just the beginning for Bitcoin, as there are many pivotal events ahead in 2024. Firstly, in January, the SEC has a final deadline to approve Wall Street's proposed Bitcoin spot ETFs. Entities like BlackRock and Grayscale have been in continuous dialogue with the SEC to address any outstanding concerns, significantly boosting the likelihood of ETF approval.

Proposed Bitcoin spot ETFs awaiting SEC approval. Source: Bloomberg (05/12/2023)

Furthermore, Bitcoin will undergo its fourth halving in April 2024, reducing block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Halvings historically reduce inflation pressure on the leading cryptocurrency and drive miners to maximize extraction efforts before income sources diminish. The algorithmic difficulty of Bitcoin mining has undergone six consecutive adjustments recently, highlighting increased miner activity.

Bitcoin's latest surge has also strengthened the entire cryptocurrency market. At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) reached a new high for 2023 at $2,309 USD, although it has been slightly impacted by news of the SEC delaying consideration of Grayscale's proposed Ethereum spot ETF until early 2024.

1D chart of the ETH/USDT pair on Binance at 06:10 AM on 06/12/2023

Other top altcoins have recorded modest gains ranging from 2-10%, indicating that BTC continues to command significant attention among big-cap groups. Conversely, smaller market-cap altcoins have seen double-digit increases.

Liquidation data from CoinGlass shows over $257 million in derivatives liquidations over the past 24 hours, with the short side accounting for nearly 66%. Bitcoin leads the liquidations with $110 million, dominating the market.

Market liquidation overview in the crypto market at 06:10 AM on 06/12/2023. Source: CoinGlass