Bitcoin breaches $44,000 mark, now on the same level as in March 2022

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, breached the $ 44,000 mark after nearly 21 months on Wednesday. It traded above $44,000 last in March 2022. The cryptocurrency topped $44,000 in the early hours of Wednesday. As of 4 pm, it was trading at $44,165, according to CoinMarketCap.

In 2023, the token has gained over 160 per cent.

According to experts, the current rally comes in the backdrop of optimism around Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). They also said that it signifies the market is now recovering from earlier setbacks like the crash of FTX and the case against Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world.

"The latest Bitcoin rally is fuelled by growing optimism around the Bitcoin ETF as Blackrock has secured $100,000 seed funding for its Bitcoin ETF venture. Wall Street giants like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton are trying to list bitcoin ETFs in the US and this is driving the fear-of-missing-outfactor in the market," said Shivam Thakral, chief executive officer (CEO) of BuyUcoin.

Adding to this, Siddharta Gupta, senior vice president (Business and Strategic Alliances) at CoinDCX, said, "What the momentum in Bitcoin means is that the industry is now recovering from the earlier setbacks of FTX, Luna, Binance US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case, etc." Gupta also said the rally may be due to the Bitcoin halving scheduled for next year.

A report by Bloomberg recently said that the US SEC is expected to approve Bitcoin ETF by January 10. In a recent report, Standard Chartered said that Bitcoin may hit $100,000 in 2024. However, Gupta said that the rally may end if it does not go favourably.  

"This is majorly dependent on the ETF approval due for early next year since an ETF will get BTC to mainstream. However, if the same is not approved, the current rally would have limited legs," he told Business Standard.

Now, the next resistance is at $50,000.

"A very important psychological figure of $50k now seems to be within reach for Bitcoin. While such gains could be usually short-lived and followed by corrections, investors are expecting gains to continue before we see any major correction," according to CoinSwitch's market desk.