Bitcoin heads for 20% weekly gain, climbs above $75,000
By Aboki Forex —
Bitcoin rose above $75,000 early Friday and is on track for a weekly gain of about 20 per cent, lifted by easing Treasury yields and renewed hopes for the Clarity Act. The world's largest cryptocurrency was last seen at $75,343.01, up from $62,836.88 at the start of the week.
What triggered the rally
The rally began Wednesday when Treasury yields pulled back sharply after Treasury intervention in the bond market. That eased pressure on risk assets and helped trigger a broader move into crypto. A massive short squeeze followed, with roughly $2.7 billion in crypto short positions liquidated, according to CoinGlass.
Investor sentiment improved further on Thursday due to a last-ditch push from the White House and crypto industry leaders to get the Clarity Act across the finish line in the coming weeks. The bill is widely viewed as a key catalyst that could push the market out of the crypto winter that began last fall, but the chances of it passing appear relatively slim.
Macro and policy catalysts align
Max Stuedlein, head of Partnerships at Sygnum APAC, said Bitcoin's move reflects an alignment of macro and policy catalysts. "The Treasury's decision to double its buybacks of long-dated government debt is aimed at addressing long-term yield concerns, where borrowing costs have been rising on concerns over US debt levels and partial crowding out by debt issuances of hyperscalers," he said.
Crypto stocks jump
Crypto stocks followed suit on Thursday. Coinbase closed up 7.5 per cent, Circle gained 6.45 per cent, and Strategy rose 7.8 per cent. The ProShares Bitcoin strategy ETF was up 5.5 per cent in premarket trading.
Still far from peak, says fund manager
Despite the rally, Bitcoin remains well below a 2026 high of $94,820 achieved in mid-January and an all-time high of $126,198, which it hit on October 6 last year.
Lucy Gazmararian, founder and managing partner at Token Bay Capital, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Friday that crypto is coming to the end of its bear market. "We're expecting one final flush, and for it to drop another 20%, so that it's in keeping with prior cycles," she said. "The market was heavily leveraged short, and they've been wiped out. So I think it's the market expectation. They're very savvy to the cycles of Bitcoin, and they position accordingly in those final months before the cycle turns from bull to bear and vice versa."
She called on investors in Bitcoin to "hold the longer-term thesis," labeling Bitcoin trades "a play against monetary debasement." "But in the shorter term, it's very much moving along these cycles because it's still a very volatile asset," she told CNBC. "So it's a great playground for traders, and now we have so many tools to place bets either way on Bitcoin now."