Cryptocurrencies have shed around $800 billion in market value earlier this month by a steep drop in prices of digital currencies and the turmoil engulfing TerraUSD and its Luna token.
Monday’s gain came after the largest digital token fell for seven straight weeks, the longest losing streak since August 2011, as per the data compiled by Bloomberg. That mirrored the length of the decline in the S&P 500, underscoring how stocks and crypto remain closely linked.
Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 2.23% to $2,073.73 on Monday.
“If the S&P falls some more, that should create one final flush and a great buying opportunity for Bitcoin," Fundstrat Global technical strategist Mark Newton said. “There’s a lot of bearishness, and we should be approaching a time when you really want to buy into that in the next couple of months."
Crypto crowd dominate Davos main street
Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum (WEF), which typically caters to the financial elite including major banks such as Citigroup to Credit Suisse, is holding panels on cyrptocurrencies' carbon footprint and future and one on decentralized finance.
A free bitcoin pizza stall and a "Liquidity Lounge" were among the treats on offer for attendees at this year's meeting in Davos, where blockchain and cryptocurrency firms have taken over its main street, despite a recent crash in digital coin values.
Executives from the crypto sector have descended on the annual gathering of business leaders and politicians in the Swiss Alpine resort, seeking to encourage faster adoption of their technology, which is largely unregulated.
Bitcoin's struggle in recent weeks
Bitcoin has struggled in recent weeks as inflation remains elevated even with central banks in rate-hiking mode, boosting prospects for more monetary tightening. Also weighing on the outlook for crypto markets, regulators across the world have stepped up calls for stricter oversight since the TerraUSD stablecoin tumbled from its intended dollar peg earlier this month.
While Bitcoin has been touted in the past as a hedge against inflation, it’s proved in recent months to be highly correlated with risk assets like companies in the Nasdaq 100, which has tumbled amid the changing monetary regime.
The tendency to trade in line with stocks means crypto traders are now closely watching economic indicators for signs of where monetary policy -- and by extension, digital-asset prices -- is heading.
“Bitcoin is likely to hover around $29,000 to $31,000 for the next couple of weeks," said Noelle Acheson and Konrad Laesser of Genesis Global Trading in a note Friday. They added that some economic-data releases, like US gross domestic product or inflation measures, “could change the narrative."
Rick Bensignor, president of Bensignor Investment Strategies and a former Morgan Stanley strategists, uses DeMark technical indicators -- which compare the most recent maximum and minimum prices to the previous period’s equivalent price to measure demand -- to argue Bitcoin likely won’t break higher anytime soon.
“I’d still expect another four weeks of heaviness," he said in a note Monday. The May 12 low around $25,425 and the bounce from that keeps support intact at $28,900, he added.
