Bitcoin extends longest rally since pandemic

The top cryptocurrencies are recovering after a sharp plunge in the wake of the FTX collapse

Bitcoin extended its gains for the ninth straight day on Thursday and surged above $18,000, in the longest winning streak since 2020.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency gained more than 10% in January, and jumped by 8% over the past week. As of 11am GMT on Thursday, it was trading at $18,187, marking a 4% surge over the past 24 hours, according to the CoinMarketCap website.

Bitcoin’s value has grown amid cooling inflation and hopes that “the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest-rate hikes,” Bloomberg reported, adding that the latest rally comes as a “stark contrast to last year’s slump.”

Bitcoin fell nearly 65% in 2022 as the wider cryptocurrency market faced headwinds resulting from numerous bankruptcies and collapses in the sector, including the implosion of FTX, the second-largest crypto exchange at the time of its insolvency. 

READ MORE: Peter Schiff warns of ‘crypto extinction’

“Risk assets have been rallying, I think, for the reason that the terminal rate is coming slowly but surely into the foreground and positioning has been bearish and transitioning, which means bullish near-term price action,” the founder of Tallbacken Capital Advisors, Michael Purves, said.

Despite recent predictions that Bitcoin could plunge 70% this year due to the fallout of the FTX collapse, analysts believe that once the outlook for the digital-asset market clears up, large players, including institutions, will come back, pushing up the price.

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