Bitcoin recovers to $38,000 as buying pressure increases from holders
According to the TradingView chart, Bitcoin pulled back above $38,000 on Feb. 4 after falling nearly 6% on Feb. 2. Bitcoin’s selling pressure had subsided as it hit intraday highs of $38,234 on Feb. 4 following the previous day’s rebound.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the first and largest cryptocurrency was changing hands at $38,005, up 2.22% at the time of writing. In the broader cryptocurrency market, most alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) were trading in the green at press time. Ethereum, the largest altcoin was trading at over $2,831, up 5.87%. According to CoinMarketCap, the majority of altcoins gained between 3% and 8% in the last 24 hours.
Here’s Who’s Buying Bitcoin
The Crypto Fear and Greed Index which measures market sentiment remains in “extreme fear”, suggesting that traders are still fearful.
IntoTheBlock analytics notes that short-term speculation seems to have faded from the market as the number of BTC traders/addresses holding for less than one month has decreased by 32.07% since Dec. 28. It notes that the buying pressure is now coming from medium- and long-term holders who have been accumulating at recent prices.
In the early hours of Friday, markets were quiet as investors awaited the release of key U.S. jobs data that could impact the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy. Last month, the Federal Reserve hinted that it would raise interest rates for the first time in more than three years.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note has surged to 1.838%, indicating that Treasury yields are rising. The 30-year Treasury bond rate also increased to 2.157%.
The European Central Bank had previously indicated that interest rates would remain constant, acknowledging that inflation would likely continue to rise for longer than initially expected. Meanwhile, the Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time since 2004 and began the process of quantitative tightening.
