Crypto news: BTC gains 14%, shorts ‘caught off guard‘
Updated
Bitcoin (BTC) was up by almost 15% in European morning trade. The main cryptocurrency closed February at $43,465, according to data from TradingView – almost $5,000 up from its January close.
BTC is now up by 29.5% from its yearly low, as recorded on 24 January. The whole cryptocurrency market advanced 11.22% over the past 24 hours.
The boost coincided with U.S. Treasury department expanding sanctions against Russia on Monday.
The cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index, which measures sentiment in the market, jumped from yesterday's reading of 21, signaling extreme fear, to 51, which indicates neutral sentiment among crypto traders.
The pump came just as traders were the most negative about the cryptocurrency since October 2020, data from analytics firm Santiment showed.
Writes crypto analyst Brian Quinlivan: “Historically, when a week of this level of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) and negative posts from the crypto crowd occurs, prices have a tendency to bounce higher.
“It hasn’t been surprising to see that this breakout occurred immediately following the lowest point we’ve seen weighted social sentiment hit since October, 2020. On top of this, we can clearly see that traders were putting their money where their mouths were on social media.”
Santiment’s data suggest that traders were shorting rather than longing the markets.
“Those who were betting for bitcoin’s price to drop were caught off guard, and many were liquidated on Monday,” Quinlivan adds.
Top cryptocurrency coins by market capitalisation
As of 07:15 UTC:
What is your sentiment on BTC/USD?
- Bitcoin (BTC) jumped by a whopping 14.46% in just a day to trade at $43,443;
- Ether (ETH) added 11.96% to $2,918; and
- Binance coin (BNB) was up by 11.98% and trading at $405.
Winners and losers
- Altcoins terra (LUNA) and theta network (THETA) were up by 21.20% and 17.97% respectively over the past 24 hours.
- There are no losers among the major digital currencies today.
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