From Decrypt · By Jose Antonio Lanz
In brief
Bitcoin trades near $84,500, up 2.5% in 24 hours, as the crypto market cap rose 2.6% to $2.82 trillion; XRP gained 4.1% and Zcash 11.2%.
Brent crude near $108 and a 5.09% 10-year Treasury yield drove October's selloff, and both eased slightly on Wednesday.
Bitcoin technical indicators still suggest caution, but prediction markets lean optimistically bullish.
Bitcoin traders and hodlers are breathing this week after a pretty spooky start to the month with the historically best gains.
Bitcoin traded near $84,500 on Wednesday, up 2.5% over 24 hours, as the crypto market bounced back from a mid-October slide that pushed it below $80,000. The total crypto market capitalization, the combined value of every coin, rose 2.2% to $2.9 trillion.
Myriad: How high will Bitcoin go? Click to make your prediction.
Ethereum climbed 2.5% to $2,504, Solana gained 2.2% to $108.18 and BNB rose 2% to $749. XRP led the large caps with a 4.1% gain to $1.37, while Zcash jumped 11.2% to $1,332 and has now added 15.3% over seven days.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, a 0-to-100 gauge where 0 means extreme fear and 100 means extreme greed, reads 55, which counts as neutral but is 3 points ahead of yesterday’s readings. In other words, it seems like traders have stopped panicking, but they are not yet chasing prices.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, has swung between $97 and $112 a barrel this month and traded near $108 on Wednesday. The war with Iran keeps supply fears alive, and Washington rejected an Iranian plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in late September.
Oil matters to crypto because it feeds inflation. U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier, above the 3.6% economists expected and up from 3.4% in August. Higher inflation pushes up Treasury yields, the annual return investors demand for lending to the U.S. government. Government bonds paying more than 5% with almost no default risk pull money away from stocks and crypto, and higher rates make the borrowing behind leveraged trades costlier.
The Federal Reserve's benchmark rate sits at 3.75% to 4% after a September hike, and CME FedWatch gives about an eight-in-ten chance of a hold at the Oct. 28 meeting. Markets firmly expect a hike on Dec. 9.
Bitcoin price: Going up, but weak
On the daily chart, Bitcoin opened Wednesday at $82,928.80 and has reached $84,726.28, up 1.94% for the candle, after bouncing about 6% from this month's low near $79,711. Its current price is pressing up, trying to approach the natural resistance at $87,422.70.
Bitcoin price data. Image: Tradingview
Bitcoin’s latest rally ran from $62,763 to a September high of $87,422.70. That trend marked a strong support at $81,603. Bitcoin lost the level in the October dip and has now reclaimed it, with movement still in the upper side of its bounce..