Bitcoin soars 20% in 24 hours and tests
$44,000, why?
After bottoming at $37,000 on Sunday and after a hesitant start to the day yesterday, Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market took off from yesterday afternoon, with BTC/USD peaking at $44,200 last night.
The cryptocurrency posted on this peak an increase of more than 19% over 24 hours. However, the reasons for this strong upward movement seem unclear, but some analysts have mentioned a link with the situation in Ukraine and the international sanctions against Russia.
Yesterday, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, asked "all major cryptocurrency exchanges to block Russian user addresses."
Europe and the United States have banned some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the messaging network that supports global financial transactions. This measure prevented these institutions from carrying out any interbank transactions with non-Russian entities. However, it is common knowledge that Russia considers cryptocurrency as a means of circumventing financial sanctions.
Edward Moya, an analyst at Oanda Americas, noted in comments picked up by Coindesk that the Russian sanctions “strengthen the case for blockchain products that will compete with the SWIFT network.”
“Bitcoin and all major altcoins are on the rise as investors realize the likelihood of massive investments in [decentralized finance] following the latest round of Russian sanctions,” he added.
John Kicklighter, chief strategist of DailyFX, posted a similar view in a note: "As the West raises heavy sanctions against Russia, including access to the SWIFT payment system, the use case of a decentralized channel for finance is perfectly presented,” he wrote.
Adam Farthing, head of risk for Japan at cryptocurrency trading firm B2C2, said bitcoin could "de-risk" and start trading more as a hedge against geopolitical instability and global warming. inflation, according to comments reported by Bloomberg.
Finally, Louis Curran, managing partner at Gigabyte Investment, said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday that "bitcoin can benefit from some of the instability that will likely hit the dollar and euro" as tensions escalate. international.
From a technical point of view, the return above the $40,000 threshold has significantly improved the profile of Bitcoin in daily data. The $44,000 area is immediate resistance, before another clearer resistance at around $45,500.
On the downside, the thresholds of $42,000 and $40,000 are the first important supports to take into account.