Bitcoin Price Breaks Out to Highest in Almost 3 Weeks

Bitcoin (BTC) rose to $42,673 as of press time, up 4.1% in the past 24 hours.

The price of the largest cryptocurrency by market value touched $43,337 earlier Tuesday, the highest point since March 3.

“Bitcoin’s price is, broadly, moving in line with the major indices,” said Jason Deane, chief bitcoin analyst at Quantum Economics. “Crypto Twitter has been forecasting an upwards movement based on a combination of technical analysis and certain fundamentals, but it’s too early to say whether this is a sustained rally.”

Bitcoin trading volume is around 30,000 BTC in the past 24 hours, a low point compared to the past month.

“As $BTC soars to $42,000, more than 15,000 BTC in outflows from exchanges were spotted yesterday,” IntoTheBlock Insights wrote in a comment, “the largest since Jan 29.”

Bitcoin outflows from exchanges are often seen by crypto analysts as a sign that traders aren’t looking for a quick sale – so they might be moving the coins into long-term custody or storage options. An elevated rate outflows is typically seen as bullish.

“The last time BTC experienced a large outflow,” IntoThe Block wrote, “it was followed by a significant rise in price.”

The bitcoin market took a hit briefly on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled in a speech that the U.S. central bank might raise the benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point at certain meetings over the rest of the year. He said that officials are ready to “slow the market” to bring down the inflation.

However, the market bounced back aggressively Tuesday despite the Fed’s hawkish attitude. Equity markets also went up. Nasdaq was up 1.7% and the S&P 500 was up 1%.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrency markets, ether (ETH) was up 2.14% over the past 24 hours and solana (SOL) was up 4.35%.