Bitcoin (BTC) recorded eight consecutive days of price increases and climbed back above $18,000 for the first time since mid-December.
The cryptocurrency hadn’t posted such a long winning streak since July 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the past seven days, the price of BTC has risen by almost 8%, with an increase of 4.1% in the last 24 hours at the time of writing.
Cointelegraph analysts predicted on January 11 that Bitcoin could surge to $18,000 and its upward price movement would put pressure on $275 million in weekly options expiring on January 13 with bets placed at $16,500 and less.
Moskovsky Capital hedge fund CEO Lex Moskovsky tweeted an image on Jan. 11 showing $86 million worth of Bitcoin shorts being “smoked royally.”
The shorts smoke royally.
$86 million in the last 4 hours. pic.twitter.com/hNPwn4C53M
— Lex Moskovsky (@mskvsk) January 11, 2023
The price of BTC has fallen nearly 65% from 2022. The broader crypto market has also faced headwinds resulting from numerous bankruptcies and meltdowns in the space in the same year, including the FTX crypto exchange, the second largest exchange at the time of its bankruptcy.
It seems that #Bitcoins likes to remind us that he doesn’t care about exchanges, investor letters, open letters and Ponzi schemes: pic.twitter.com/OfmmdWeUvz
—Andrew (@AP_Abacus) January 12, 2023
On Jan. 11, FTX said it had recovered $5 billion in cash and cryptocurrency that it could sell to pay off creditors, a move that some say could form a bullish narrative if FTX customers are repaid. .
yes, I feel like this is and always has been the best recovery scenario for customers. I think they are substantially whole is a real possibility; I think we were maybe a few weeks away from getting there in November. (The United States is creditworthy, should give everyone back.)
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) January 12, 2023
The exchange has also found a number of cryptocurrencies that it believes will be harder to sell because the markets for these assets are illiquid.
Related: From Bernie Madoff to Bankman-Fried: Bitcoin Maximalists Have Been Validated
However, some have called for caution on the price, saying that a rise in BTC prices is typical ahead of the release of Consumer Price Index (CPI) data in the United States.
Never fail. This is the third pre-cpi ramp.
— Bill Noble (@crypto_noble) January 12, 2023
CPI data is due out on January 12 and many apparently expect it to show that inflation is falling and the Federal Reserve may put the brakes on interest rate hikes.
Sentiment has also seen stock prices rally, with the S&P 500 up 4% in the past five days, according to Google Finance.
US Treasury yields have also seen a slight decline recently, according to data from Bloomberg.
