Bitcoin Hits $23K; Are Good Vibes Just Beginning?

The bitcoin “reign of terror” is just beginning. The world’s number one digital currency by market cap has shot up another $2,000 and is now trading at $23K at the time of this writing. The currency has endured many small, yet noticeable price bumps over the past month or so, and 2023, in many ways, is looking to be a solid change from the misery we all experienced in 2022.

Bitcoin Keeps Enjoying Price Hikes

The funny thing is that all the sentiment surrounding bitcoin appears to be relatively mixed. While some are quite enthused by the currency’s actions, others believe that the market is still in poor shape and is likely to remain so for a while. One of those people is Jim Cramer of “Mad Money” fame. In a recent interview, he stated that when bitcoin broke $17K in January (last month), that would have been a good time to sell and exit the market.

He stated:

[It is a] good chance again to get out of crypto and scale out of Chinese stocks as neither can be trusted… You can’t just beat yourself up and say, ‘Hey, it’s too late to sell.’ The truth is, it’s never too late to sell an awful position, and that’s what you have if you own these so-called digital assets.

In contrast to Cramer’s comments, Sylvia Jablonski – CEO and chief investment officer at Defiance ETFs – noted the asset is now outperforming stocks, and likely making its way up the financial ladder faster than most investors are anticipating. She said:

Bitcoin seems to be trading along with the Nasdaq and risk assets again after the past months of decoupling. This is good news for crypto investors in that if inflation is falling and the Fed is closer to the end than the beginning of economic tightening, risk assets will catch a breath of fresh air and perhaps lure investors back in.

Owen Lau – an analyst at Oppenheimer – says that at this stage, bitcoin – which was seriously oversold in 2022 – has had a chance to price in all the negative news of the previous 12 months. Between the bankruptcies, FTX, and all the other poor headlines that appeared last year, bitcoin has had some time to recover from everything and move into a better position. He said:

Bitcoin and digital asset stocks were oversold last year. These assets have more than priced in the negative news from the FTX collapse, Block Fi bankruptcy, and the fallout of Genesis.

The Fed Could Lighten Up

The idea – according to Charles Hayter, the CEO of crypto data site Crypto Compare – is that bitcoin is rising thanks to sentiment that the Fed is going to ease up over the next 11 months. He said:

Fed tightening seems to be lighter and inflation less of a risk.

Source: Read Full Article