Bitcoin climbs back above $50,000 as it starts October on a tear

Bitcoin climbs back above $50,000 as it starts October on a tear

Bitcoin rose as high as about $50,400 on Tuesday, topping a key psychological resistance level for traders and reclaiming third-quarter losses. It last traded 4% higher at $51,276.47, according to Coin Metrics. It’s currently up almost 17% for the month of October and has gained 76.5% on a year-to-date basis.

Bitcoin rose back above the $50,000 mark on Tuesday after plunging in September from the same level on fears about regulation in the U.S. and China.

The last time bitcoin broke $50,000 was at the start of September, when the cryptocurrency became legal tender in El Salvador. Cryptocurrencies have been rallying since Friday as investors bet on a fourth-quarter run. Bitcoin spent much of the third quarter hovering in the low $30,000 range as investors worried about regulatory policies in China and the U.S., though it had a strong finish.

Teddy Vallee, chief investment officer at Pervalle Global Capital, said he expects momentum to continue through the quarter if a big equity correction doesn’t get in the way of it.

“Long term holders now make up more than 80.5% of total supply, which has historically led to large rallies over the ensuing six months,” he said. “Absent of a large equity correction, we see prices higher from here by year end. Incremental demand should remain strong, as institutional adoption continues to accelerate, which creates a favorable supply/demand dynamic.”

The rally comes on the heels of comments made last week by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, who said in a House Committee on Financial Services hearing that he has “no intention to ban” cryptocurrencies in the U.S. the way China repeatedly has.

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Market Wrap: Bitcoin at $51K as the Bulls Return

Trading in non-fungible tokens (NFT) climbed to $10.7 billion in the third quarter, an increase of more than 700% from the previous quarter, according to a report by blockchain analytics firm DappRadar. Growth was powered by a record-breaking August, which saw over $5.2 billion in trading volume, reported CoinDesk’s Jamie Crawley . DappRadar said that “there is not a single but multiple reasons” for the surge. One of these is the way in which NFT projects are “becoming brands,” with celebrities such as rapper Snoop Dogg and Hall of Fame basketball player Shaquille O’Neal putting their names to communities, strengthening the social aspect of NFTs.