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Bitcoin (BTC) price moved past $41,000 during the Monday business day in Asia, for the first time since April 2022 – prices not seen before the crash of Terra – while Ether (ETH) moved past $2,200.
The other top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization marked smaller gains, though BNB coin (BNB), a token affiliated with the Binance exchange, was down about 0.1% over the past day.
“The market is increasingly expecting a rate cut in the coming year, and investors are increasingly bullish on the outlook of Bitcoin ETF applications by some of the biggest names in asset management,” wrote Lucy Hu, Senior Analyst, Metalpha, in a note. “This is an official statement of a bull run, and the price could see more upticks in the coming weeks.”
The week ahead will bring U.S. ISM services PMI data and non-farm payrolls for December. A strong NFP figure might result in the unwinding of Fed rate cut bets for 2024, slowing BTC’s ascent.
Institutional Traders Split Between Bitcoin, Ether: Bybit Research
Numbers from the exchange show institutional traders largely ignored alternative cryptocurrencies in favor of perceived “safe” assets.
Institutional traders and whales, or large holders of bitcoin, were skeptical about altcoins, the report says, with the data showing a general decline in altcoin holdings among traders despite a brief rise in May. A notable decrease started in August, particularly among institutions, reflecting a cautious stance towards these more volatile assets.
In a report from October, K33 Research wrote that it was shifting stance on asset allocation, advising a pivot back to bitcoin due to ether’s prolonged slump against BTC since July 2022, and a muted response to the newly launched futures-based ETH ETFs.
“We believe it’s time to pull the brakes on ETH and rotate back into BTC amid ether’s ongoing underperformance,” they wrote.