The cryptocurrency rose to the top of its recent range on Monday as short sellers were relieved in the wake of a strong week and traders hoped some positive comments from influential investors could further strengthen the sector.
Bitcoin rose 12.5 percent to $39,850 (about Rs 29.6 lakh), its highest level since mid-June during the Asia session, while Ether touched a three-week high at $2,344 (approximately Rs 1.74 lakh). Bitcoin saw its best week in almost three months. The price of bitcoin in India as of 10 am (IST) on July 26 was Rs 28.3 lakh.
Last week cryptocurrency enthusiast and Tesla boss Elon Musk said that carmakers may resume accepting bitcoin as payment after due diligence on their energy use. It suspended such payments in May, prompting a swift crypto selloff.
Twitter boss Jack Dorsey also said last week that digital currency is a “big part” of the social media firm’s future. On Sunday, London’s City AM newspaper reported, citing an unnamed “insider,” that Amazon wants to accept bitcoin payments by the end of the year.
Brokers said the bulk of the comments together was enough to support the market, where it has remained stagnant since its May fall. While the data also pointed to massive short-seller liquidations – indicating that many may have given up.
Ryan Rabaglia, Global Head of Trading, Digital Asset Platform OSL, said, “Over the past five trading sessions we have seen a general near-term bullish momentum in the market, driven by key technicals as well as recent positive comments.”
“With sales of a record $1.2 billion (approximately Rs 8,935 crore) during the last 24 hours, the outlook and momentum for the coming week is positive,” he added.
Bitcoin was up 8 percent at $38,064 (approximately Rs 28.3 lakh), judging from its June peak of $41,341.57 (approximately Rs 30.7 lakh), up from $29,500 (approximately Rs 21.9 lakh) just a week ago
