Benzinga - by Mehab Qureshi, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Major cryptocurrencies surged on Monday evening as Bitcoin’s price rally showed no signs of slowing down.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 9:30 p.m. EST) |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | +8.07% | $68,681 |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) | +5.07% | $3,659 |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | +30.36% | $0.19 |
What Happened: This led to BTC reaching a new all-time high market capitalization, reaching $1.33 trillion.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization has surged due to the inflow of funds into spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the upcoming halving event, and growing investor interest in the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin’s market cap has surged to an all-time high, spurring a surge in investor sentiment towards “extreme greed,” as indicated by the Crypto Fear & Greed index. On March 3, the level of greed peaked at 90, marking the highest point observed since Nov. 8, 2021.
BTC exceeded the $1.3 trillion market capitalization threshold and is swiftly approaching silver’s market cap of $1.4 trillion.
In Monday’s trading session, Bitcoin shorts experienced a squeezing effect, leading to the liquidation of approximately $250 million in leveraged bets, primarily shorts, as per CoinGlass data. Within the last 24 hours over 141,175 traders faced liquidation, resulting in a combined liquidation amount of $416.16 million. The most significant single liquidation order, amounting to $8.23 million in BTC-USDT value, occurred on Binance.
Top Gainer (24 Hour)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 9:30 p.m. EDT) |
| Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) | +107.66% | $0.00004382 |
| eCash (CRYPTO: XEC) | +82.61% | $0.00007883 |
| BitTorrent (CRYPTO: BTT) | +44.34% | $0.000002019 |
The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.53 trillion, showing a 6.03% increase in the past 24 hours.
Stocks retreated on Monday, leading to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling from their all-time highs, despite a surge in technology stocks associated with the artificial intelligence boom.
The S&P 500 slightly declined by 0.12% to 5,130.95, with the Nasdaq Composite slipping 0.41% to 16,207.51. Additionally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average concluded the session with a loss of 97.55 points, or 0.25%, finishing at 38,989.83.
This week, traders will eagerly seek hints about the future direction of interest rates from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The highly anticipated monetary policy updates are slated for delivery to the House of Representatives on Wednesday and to the Senate on Thursday.
The ADP Employment Survey and January job openings data are set to be unveiled on Wednesday, offering additional clarity on the labor market. The manufacturing and nonfarm payrolls data for February are scheduled for release on Friday.
See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners
Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe said that Bitcoin is reaching a new yearly high, with the price edging closer to $65,000.
"I think we’re close to peaking on the price action and are going to consolidate -> correction to lead later this month/beginning April. Great movements, nonetheless."
#Bitcoin making a new yearly high, as we're approaching $65K.I think we're close to peaking on the price action and are going to consolidate -> correction to lead later this month/beginning April.
Great movements, nonetheless. pic.twitter.com/I3IfnmkSLy
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) March 4, 2024
Gracy Chen, Managing Director at Biget, in a note seen by Benzinga said, “Bitcoin continues to rally, with the current price broken $67,000. We just need about a $2,000 surge to break the all-time high of $69,000. From the recent data on Bitcoin investors, comparatively it seems they’re less sensitive to price and generally see the halving event as bullish."
She adds, "So, if Bitcoin ETF keeps seeing strong net inflows this week, chances are high that we will hit a new all-time high soon. This has proven the resilience of decentralized assets and the value of decentralized ecosystems. Based on our analysis, Bitcoin could potentially hit $120,000 to $140,000 in this bull market cycle.”
On-chain analyst Willy Woo predicts that Bitcoin has the potential to surge to a minimum of $125,000 this year, given the allocation of relatively conservative amounts of capital by financial giants BlackRock and Fidelity. According to Woo, a mere 3% rotation of assets to Bitcoin by the clients of these two firms could propel BTC to the $2.5 trillion market cap level.
"BTC price will go past $125k minimum before the end of 2025 just from Blackrock and Fidelity clients if they rotate 3% exposure to #Bitcoin.”
Another on-chain analyst Ali Martinez said that the TD Sequential indicator has displayed a sell signal for Bitcoin on the 4-hour chart. The TD Sequential indicator is a technical analysis tool used in cryptocurrency trading to identify potential price exhaustion and reversal points based on a sequence of numbers on a price chart. It comprises a series of count-down and count-up sequences that signal buy or sell opportunities when certain criteria are met.
"Since February 15, every time this indicator suggested selling, the price of $BTC dropped by 1.5% to 4.7%. This trend is something short-term traders should watch closely!"
The TD Sequential indicator showed a sell signal for #Bitcoin on the 4-hour chart!Since February 15, every time this indicator suggested selling, the price of $BTC dropped by 1.5% to 4.7%. This trend is something short-term traders should watch closely! pic.twitter.com/8txn6Y3LdJ
— Ali (@ali_charts) March 4, 2024
Photo by CMP_NZ on Shutterstock
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