By James Davis
Bitcoin Resumes Upward Trend
Bitcoin was subject to intense selling pressure at the start of the week as Grayscale dumped its coins. The asset manager sold Bitcoin worth millions, causing the digital currency to plummet below $40,000. BTC found support at $38,572 on Tuesday before it started to recover, reaching $42,276 as of this writing.
It is worth mentioning that investors of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust have also been cashing out their coins as well. But why? One might ask. Well, before the US Securities and Exchange Commission allowed Grayscale to convert its Bitcoin Trust into an ETF earlier this month, investors were unable to redeem their shares for Bitcoin. So, when Bitcoin Trust became an ETF, they rushed to cash out their shares.
“A Downtrend is Imminent,” Says Arthur Hayes
However, the selling pressure from Grayscale’s investors appears to have slowed down on Wednesday, leading to the start of a recovery rally. Still, some analysts are not optimistic that the current uptrend will last long. BitMex ex-CEO Arthur Hayes said earlier this week that several macroeconomic factors might hurt Bitcoin over the coming weeks.
He argued that the US Federal Reserve might not cut rates as many crypto fanatics expect, citing the rising shipping costs caused by Houthis attacks on shipping vessels traversing the Red Sea. Hayes anticipates that Bitcoin may touch $30,000 before halving.
ETH, DOGE, and SOL Price Analysis
While Bitcoin has recorded a 7-day growth of 1.9%, its closest rival, Ethereum, is down 7.8% this week. Data from CoinGecko shows the digital currency changing hands for $2,276 at press time. ETH’s price drop is largely due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s move to delay the Ethereum ETF applications from Grayscale and BlackRock.
Meanwhile, Solana has rallied 5.8% this week. The fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap is now valued at $97.12.
Dogecoin, on the other hand, is closing the week with a 7.6% loss. The biggest meme coin by market capitalization had started the week on a high note following speculations that Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, would utilize the token to facilitate payments on the social media platform but lost all the gains as the week went on. It now trades at $0.079.