While still down from its all-time high of $68,982.20 in November 2021, Bitcoin is slowly recovering from a series of crashes in the cryptocurrency market in 2022. Analysts say the conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried for fraud and the pending sentencing of former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) for violating anti-money laundering laws have significantly reduced the risk in the industry.
The rally shows that investors in the market are willing to take risks in the expectation that the US Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy and cut interest rates.
Bitcoin is 'back' after a gloomy 2022
Bitcoin's rise also sent shares of MicroStrategy up 10%, exchange Coinbase Global up 4.8% and miner Marathon Digital up 12% on December 12.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved applications for 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on January 10, making Bitcoin more accessible to the general public. Since their launch, the new ETFs have attracted about $8 billion from investors.
In addition, the upcoming halving in April 2024 also boosted Bitcoin's rise. Halving is a process that reduces the reward for miners by half to control Bitcoin's inflation rate, an event that occurs about every 4 years.
According to Reuters, Bitcoin prices usually increase significantly after each halving. Just six months after the first halving event in 2012, Bitcoin prices increased from $12 to $126. After the second halving in 2016, Bitcoin increased from $654 to $1,000 in seven months. In 2020, Bitcoin prices also increased from $8,570 to $18,040. The third halving in 2020 reduced the miner reward to 6.25 Bitcoins per block, which will reduce it to 3.125 Bitcoins in April 2024.
Additionally, sentiment toward Bitcoin is “generally positive” during the Lunar New Year period in Asia, according to Fundstrat Global Advisors.
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