Leading cryptocurrencies simmered down Monday after a smashing rally even as speculations around a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve gathered steam.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at 7:45 p.m. ET) |
| Bitcoin BTC/USD | -0.10% | $106,072.58 |
| Ethereum ETH/USD Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â |
-0.69% | $3,966.41 |
| Dogecoin DOGE/USDÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | -1.74% | $0.4009 |
What Happened: The world’s largest cryptocurrency broke beyond $107,000 for the first time this afternoon before profit-taking brought it back to $105,000, with a modest increase to $106,000 by evening.
The sentiment was upbeat following reports that President-elect Donald Trump might pass an executive order to create a national Bitcoin stockpile.
Bitcoin was already up 9.11% in December, higher than the historical average of 5.75%, per Coinglass data.
A similar pattern followed for Ethereum, which failed to decisively break over $4,000 and fell to the upper $3,900 range.
In the past 24 hours, 119,098 traders were liquidated, with the total liquidations at $371.44 million. Longs accounted for 60% of the liquidations.
Over 61% of traders on Binance with open Bitcoin futures positions were short, as per the Long/Short Ratio, suggesting expectations of a pullback.
A rally to $110,000 would wipe out over $500 million worth of short positions, data showed.Â
The bearish positioning could be due to the “Extreme Greed” sentiment in the market, per the Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index.
Top Gainers (24-Hours)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded at 7:30 p.m. ET) |
| Bitget Token (BGB) | +10.80% | $3.44 |
| Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) | +10.07% | $2.98 |
| THORChain (RUNE) | +7.63% | $6.95 |
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $3.71 trillion, following a marginal increase of 0.11% over the last 24 hours.
Stocks were a mixed bag on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for the eighth consecutive day, dropping 110.58 points, or 0.25%, to close at 43,717.48. The S&P 500 rose 0.38% to 6,074.08, while the Nasdaq Composite surged 1.24% to close at a record high of 20,173.89.
The tech surge was powered by the “Mag 7” stocks, as Tesla Inc. TSLA and Apple Inc. AAPL notched their all-time highs during the session.
The rally came just ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day meeting to decide on the benchmark interest rates. Market participants have priced in a 95% chance of a 25 basis point cut from the current target range of 450-475, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
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Analyst Notes: Well-known cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez sent a cautionary note to investors amid Bitcoin’s upsurge.
“I’m holding tight to my HODL bag, but my trading account is 30% cash as market sentiment around Bitcoin hits ‘extreme greed’—a cautionary red flag,” the analyst remarked.Â
I’m holding tight to my HODL bag, but my trading account is 30% cash as market sentiment around #Bitcoin $BTC hits ‘extreme greed’—a cautionary red flag.
Some altcoins are retracing and triggering my buy orders, but I’m aiming to keep at least 20% cash on hand for flexibility. pic.twitter.com/915IUEqnC4
— Ali (@ali_charts) December 16, 2024
Another widely followed analyst, Michaël van de Poppe, foresaw a “ton of volatility” in the market due to the upcoming Fed meeting.
“I won’t be surprised we’ll see $110,000 and $95,000 in the same week,” Van de Poppe made his predictions.
New all-time high for #Bitcoin and a liquidity sweep for $ETH.
FED Meeting around the corner, which is likely going to bring a ton of volatility into the markets.
I won’t be surprised we’ll see $110K and $95K in the same week.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) December 16, 2024
Image via Shutterstock
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