Categories: Bitcoin Latest News

Bitcoin’s Bounce Stalls Below $40,000

Rising alongside Bitcoin are equity markets, with the Nasdaq higher by 4% from its worst levels on Thursday morning.Read MoreFeedzy

After tumbling to a one-month low just above $34,000 early Thursday, bitcoin (BTC) charged as high as $39,600 Friday before slipping back to its current $38,700.

“Risk markets have surprisingly taken the [Russian invasion of Ukraine] news in stride,” said Lux Thiagarajah, head of trading at BCB Group. “Whilst BTC and [altcoins] have rallied, they haven’t been able to break back above levels before the invasion.”

Thiagarajah says that Western powers declining to send troops into Ukraine is comforting for bitcoin, but cautions there are “still too many unknowns to say if we haven’t seen the bottom yet.”

Looking ahead, the next focus point for bitcoin, said Oanda’s Edward Moya, is Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s semi-annual testimony before House and Senate committees next week. So far, there’s been no signal from Fed speakers this week that the Ukraine invasion has pushed the U.S. central bank off of its anticipated plan to hike interest rates by at least 25 basis points in March.

Traditional markets also continue to rally since the invasion, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up another 2%, the S&P 500 up 1.7% and the Nasdaq up 1%.

DISCLOSURE

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.