Cryptocurrencies
continued
their
rebound
higher
on
Thursday
with
bitcoin
(BTC)
nearing
$60,000
for
the
first
time
since
last
weekend’s
carnage.
Bitcoin
advanced
6.4%
over
the
past
24
hours,
currently
changing
hands
at
$59,500.
Ether
(ETH)
topped
$2,600,
up
8.8%
during
the
same
period,
snapping
its
losing
streak
against
BTC.
Ripple’s
XRP
ran
hottest
with
its
22%
surge,
driven
by
optimism
on
a
fresh
court
decision
in
a
long-running
case
that
weighed
on
the
token’s
price.
Investors
were
upbeat
that
a
U.S.
court
ordered
Ripple
to
pay
a
$125
million
fine
for
violating
securities
laws,
a
much
smaller
fine
than
the
$2
billion
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
requested.
Market
observers
pointed
to
two
favorable
developments
that
supported
the
rally
in
bitcoin
and
crypto
prices.
A
U.S.
judge
approved
on
Thursday
that
FTX
and
its
sister
trading
firm
Alameda
Research
will
pay
out
$12.7
billion
to
creditors.
Many
hope
that
part
of
the
funds
will
flow
back
to
crypto
markets
as
former
users
reinvest
the
proceedings
in
digital
assets.
Meanwhile,
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin
signed
a
bill
that
legalizes
crypto
mining
in
the
country.
“Russia
seems
to
be
acting
to
keep
up
with
the
US.
Nation-level
bitcoin
FOMO
(fear
of
missing
out)
is
heating
up,”
said
Ki
Young
Ju,
CEO
of
crypto
analytics
firm
CryptoQuant.
“Their
entry
will
boost
the
hashrate,
strengthen
network
fundamentals,
and
diversify
miner
politics.”
With
today’s
gain,
bitcoin
has
now
completely
reversed
its
weekly
candle
that
wicked
to
as
low
as
$49,000
early
Monday
to
positive.
While
there’s
plenty
of
time
until
Sunday’s
weekly
close,
if
BTC
finishes
the
week
around
the
current
prices,
it
would
form
a
hammer
candlestick.
That’s
a
bullish
chart
pattern
in
technical
analysis
that
often
appears
at
the
bottom
of
downtrends,
hinting
at
a
trend
reversal.
Some
analysts,
however,
warned
that
future
price
action
could
be
choppy.
Caleb
Franzen,
founder
of
Cubic
Analytics,
noted
that
BTC
reached
its
200-day
moving
average
cloud
that
could
act
as
a
resistance,
arresting
the
rally.
“I’m
hopeful
that
we
can
break
above
this
level,
but
I’m
not
ignorant
to
the
fact
that
it
can
just
as
easily
act
as
resistance,”
he
said.
“Bullish
if
we
break
and
close
above
it.”
Cryptocurrencies
rarely
rebound
in
a
straight
line
after
capitulation
events
such
as
Monday’s
crash,
K33
Research
analyst
David
Zimmerman
pointed
out.
“V-shaped
recoveries
are
not
the
norm,
there
is
no
need
to
rush
into
new
positions,”
said
Zimmerman.
“The
prices
within
these
wicks
are
usually
revisited,
and
looking
to
get
positioned
into
coins
showing
relative
strength
during
this
time
is
the
focus.”
“Even
if
we
assume
the
bottom
is
in,
we
are
likely
in
for
some
chop
first,”
he
added.
