Markets
Bitcoin Surges Above $68K: What Drives 17% Weekly Surge?
Bitcoin has risen in value by about 17% since last weekend, which equates to about $9,000 in the last seven days or so.
Last weekend, the asset was trading below $60,000, but on July 22, it hit a six-week high above $68,000.
What has driven the market in the last week and will continue to do so?
Bitcoin is back
On July 22, industry research firm 10x Research provided a number of reasons for the large price increase. First, there was a shift in market sentiment when BTC broke out of a key level at $61,133, changing the narrative from bearish to bullish.
The analysis added that retail trading led the weekend rally among retail investors, fueling the weekend gains and positive momentum that continued into Monday.
This was seen this weekend, with BTC gaining more than 6% since Friday. The asset hit a multi-week high of $68,480 during Monday morning trading in Asia.
Furthermore, after four weeks of net liquidity outflows totaling $8 billion, cryptocurrency markets saw inflows of $3.3 billion last week.
“This inflow, which came primarily from Bitcoin futures, stablecoins and spot ETFs, marked a positive trend change.”
Last week, Bitcoin ETF spot collected approximately $1.24 billion in inflows in five trading days, as reported by CryptoPotato.
The hype around Spot Ethereum ETFs has also contributed to the market’s gains, as all indications are that they are set to Start trading on July 23. However, ETH prices have only managed to gain 4.5% over the past week, lagging behind Bitcoin.
There are also rumors that China may take a more benign stance on cryptocurrencies, with Hong Kong’s rules serving as a test, the analyst said.
Additionally, markets in South Korea took a boost from a proposal to delay cryptocurrency taxation until 2028, spurring speculative trading.
Last week’s weaker-than-expected CPI inflation data “set a floor for Bitcoin prices after a 20% peak-to-trough decline,” they added. PCE inflation reports are coming out this week, which could provide further bullish momentum.
US politics was also influential, with a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump and President Joe Biden resign from the run-up to the elections, further strengthening cryptocurrency market sentiment.
Bullish week ahead?
On July 22, the company’s head of research, Markus Thielen, She said that there could be more momentum this week.
“There’s talk that the SEC may settle a major case, and former President Trump is set to deliver a highly anticipated speech in Nashville.”
It is assumed that trump will announce BTC as a strategic reserve asset, “which could trigger a parabolic increase in the price of Bitcoin.”