Despite Bitcoin turning bearish at the middle of last week, the cryptocurrency was able to steer away from the downward path and set on a new course upwards to get close to $4,100, or around $100 short of its February highs of 2019. Supported by a higher trading volume and positive news from the industry, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has now turned bullish and could be forming a new support level as indicated by the current market signals.
As the Independent reports, Bitcoin has broken a new psychological level and is now showing its first signs of recovery following months of the coin remaining stagnant. Ever since November last year, Bitcoin has been moving mostly between $3,000 and $4,000, a long way from its golden days in 2017 when the coin hit a peak value of $2,000.
The latest price surge could be attributed in part to a new wave of support for the cryptocurrency by influential industry figures, including the Winklevoss Twins of the Gemini exchange, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, and Block.One co-founder Brendan Blumer. Market analysts now predict that with the psychological barrier broken, Bitcoin could recover if it surpasses $4,200 and stays over that price point for longer.
Buyers Lead the Way
The past week was a positive time for Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency moved away from its weekly low point of $3,914.19 last Thursday to touch a new peak of $4,073.91 just before midnight yesterday. Looking at the market stats, it’s clear that the price correction was assisted by an increase in 24-h trading volume, which surpassed $10 billion as Bitcoin pulled a sharp jump upwards. Since this morning, the trading volume has been decreasing, currently sitting at $9.5 billion, while the market capitalization is at $71.3 billion.
Our technical analysis shows that bulls are taking over, with all 12 moving averages and 5 out of 12 oscillators sending a “buy” signal. The SMA 100 is also well above the SMA 200, telling us that there is less resistance on the upward path. With two resistance levels broken over the past couple of days ($4,000 and $4,040), healthy volume, and green signals over both the short-term and daily charts, Bitcoin could very well be headed for a break past $4,100 and a further climb upwards.
IBM Expands Blockhain World Wire
Another interesting development that could have helped Bitcoin with its price rally is the latest announcement from IBM who revealed on Monday that their Blockchain World Wire system has expanded in more than 50 countries, Forbes reports. A global payment system that’s based on the Stellar network and aimed at regulated financial institutions, Blockchain World Wire will reportedly allow users to clear global payments with cryptocurrencies, stable coins, and fiat currencies in real time.
According to IBM Blockchain General Manager, Marie Wieck, the new system is a novelty payment network with a focus on speeding up remittances and re-shaping cross-border transactions in countries where large groups of people can’t get access to financial institutions. The new system is expected to allow financial services to incorporate digital assets in order to “improve financial inclusion” on a global scale.
Following the start of Bitcoin’s rally over the weekend, the news from IBM only added more momentum to the bullish wave but also helped Stellar (XLM) jump by 10% during the past week. And it isn’t the first time “Big Blue” helped cryptocurrencies rally as the tech corporation also triggered a price increase back in July when it announced its support for the Stronghold “stable coin”.