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Bitcoin prices hovered in a familiar $19,000 to $20,000 trading range.
Dreamstime
Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies were broadly higher Monday, with risk-sensitive assets enjoying a boost as investors looked ahead to a wave of corporate earnings that could shift the needle on market sentiment.
The price of Bitcoin has risen less than 1% over the past 24 hours to $19,250. The largest cryptocurrency continues to trade largely within the $19,000 to $20,000 range that has defined its moves since early September. Bitcoin is far off its all-time highs near $69,000 reached in November 2021, but recent stability and a lack of volatility relative to other assets has been a welcome change from an otherwise eye-watering year.
“Bitcoin’s stabilization period is good news for long-term bulls,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at broker Oanda.
Barring any macro catalysts from within the crypto space itself, this week’s wave of corporate earnings—and how it impacts stocks—is likely to be the key catalyst for the next move in digital assets. Amid 2022’s tough macro backdrop of high inflation and rising interest rates, Bitcoin has become increasingly correlated with stocks, swinging in step with the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
and
While the question of the Federal Reserve’s path—which has knocked risk-sensitive bets like Bitcoin and stocks this year amid tighter policy—remains a dominant force shaping sentiment, corporate earnings are also important. Investors will be closely watching how companies from
Goldman Sachs
(ticker: GS) to
Tesla
(TSLA) see the coming months playing out given fears about a looming recession.
Even though digital assets are still mostly correlated to stocks, their correlation has been fading somewhat in recent weeks, and analysts are eyeing what may be the bottom of the crypto bear market. Bitcoin’s falls below $19,000 in brief selloffs have been consistently met with buyers stepping in to scoop up tokens at what many view as an attractive long-term value.
“The high-frequency trading systems and hedge funds have their preferred shorts and right now it seems Bitcoin is becoming a long-term bet for many,” said Moya. “If U.S. stocks tumble below the 3,600 [S&P 500] level this earnings season and Bitcoin does not break below the summer lows, the crypto winter can officially be called over.”
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—gained 2% to above $1,300. Smaller tokens or altcoins were more mixed, with
Solana
up 1% and
Cardano
less than 1% lower. Memecoins were little changed, with both
Dogecoin
and
Shiba Inu
trading flat.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@dowjones.com