Bitcoin’s price has climbed roughly 15% over the past month, and crossed above $79,000 over the weekend. The oldest cryptocurrency is now sitting at around $77,000, which is the highest the token has traded since an early February selloff, but it’s unclear how durable this latest rally will prove to be.
Markets more broadly have enjoyed a bullish April, with the S&P 500 enjoying a nearly 9% gain, but Bitcoin investors may have gotten an extra boost thanks to billionaire Michael Saylor. His firm, Strategy, has a business based around acquiring Bitcoin, with Saylor using his outsize social media presence to post memes exhorting others to do the same.
A fuzzy macroeconomic picture may be the thing keeping Bitcoin’s other buyers from pushing the cryptocurrency toward $80,000.
“Energy prices are a complicating factor. With oil prices up, risk appetites may be lower, and that affects pricing on growth assets generally (crypto included),” said Ashley Ebersole, cofounder and chief legal officer of tokenized asset firm tx, by email. “The market appears to be in a waiting phase. Prices haven’t moved decisively higher, and probably won’t until investors feel more comfortable with economic and macro events. Until then, a lot of capital is on the sidelines.”
