Bitcoin Edges Past $67K as Analysts Predict It'll Keep Climbing

Bitcoin is starting the week having seen monthly highs over $67,000 over the weekend and early this morning.

At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price has retraced slightly to $66,868.04 after having dropped 0.4% in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. That means the world's oldest and largest cryptocurrency now has a $1.3 trillion market capitalization and accounts for more than half the $2.5 trillion global crypto market cap.

The sunny disposition of Bitcoin price charts has some analysts breathing a sigh of relief.

"Bitcoin broke the local downtrend, reclaimed the previous cycle highs - and now consolidates around $67,000," wrote pseudonymous crypto trader Jelle on Twitter. "It's time to push back into the seventies, and beyond."

At the start of the month, Bitcoin billionaire Arthur Hayes wrote in a blog post that he expected a few weeks of choppy and volatile prices before things improved. And before that, he shared his bearish outlook for the recent BTC halving, writing: "I believe Bitcoin and crypto prices in general will slump around the halving."

Bitcoin Billionaire Arthur Hayes Is Bearish on the Halving—Here's Why

Bitcoin billionaire Arthur Hayes expects risky assets, like crypto, will have a tough time until May. That means the market could be in for prices slumping, rather than soaring, around the BTC halving. "The narrative of the halving being positive for crypto prices is well entrenched. When most market participants agree on a certain outcome, the opposite usually occurs," the BitMEX co-founder and former CEO wrote in his latest essay. "That is why I believe Bitcoin and crypto prices in general wil...

Last week, in a note to traders, Singapore-based digital asset firm QCP Capital hypothesized that enough time has now elapsed since the Bitcoin halving for BTC to start climbing again.

"It is now 28 days past the BTC halving and post-halving dip might be done," the firm wrote. The QCP analysts also noted that there's been a growing amount of interest in December call options—"indicating significant bullishness into year-end."

Bitcoin Up 3.5% as US Data Shows Consumer Prices Slowed Their Climb in April

Bitcoin’s price has climbed after U.S. data showed that inflation was stickier than expected in April. Consumer prices were 3.4% higher in April than they were this time last year. That's a marked slow down in rising prices compared to March's 3.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Immediately after BLS released its new Consumer Price Index data, the Bitcoin price now stands at $63,142, CoinGecko data shows. That’s a 3% gain in the past 24-hour period and 1.4% higher than it was...

At the time of writing, there's $1.6 billion worth of open interest in BTC futures contracts on Deribit, according to Coinglass. The crypto derivatives exchange tends to be the most popular for trading BTC futures contracts. Even so, total open interest for Bitcoin is currently at $20 billion, so sentiment still hasn't crystallized the way it did leading up to the Bitcoin halving when total open interest went north of $30 billion.

The seemingly relieved trader sentiment appears to be in line with the most recent BLS Consumer Price Index last week showed signs that inflation in the U.S. had started to ease.