Bitcoin topped $ 48,000 over the weekend, its highest level since mid-May, but lost some of those gains on Monday.
On Saturday, the digital coin hit $ 48,126.47, its highest level since May 17, according to Coindesk data. At around 8 a.m. ET on Monday, Bitcoin was trading at $ 47,263.35.
The bitcoin rebound comes after it sold out heavily in June and July and fell below $ 30,000 after a record high of over $ 64,000 in April.
“I believe this (the rise of bitcoin) is the result of massive accumulation,” said Vijay Ayyar, director of business development at the Luno cryptocurrency exchange, when bitcoin was trading between $ 29,000 and $ 30,000.
Bitcoin’s surge on Saturday saw the value of the entire cryptocurrency market rise above $ 2 trillion for the first time since mid-May, according to data from CoinMarketCap, which tracks digital coin prices.
The crypto market faced a number of headwinds over the summer. One of the largest has been the re-regulatory review of the industry by the authorities in China, which forced the Bitcoin mining operation to cease operations and relocate. This was one of the main reasons Bitcoin fell below the $ 30,000 mark.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate passed a major infrastructure bill last week without any of the proposed changes to crypto tax reporting delaying its passage. That was seen as a blow to the crypto community, but some said it showed that the U.S. government was taking the industry seriously.
These “fundamental regulatory obstacles” have “cut the wings off the market in the short term,” said Jehan Chu, founder of cryptocurrency-focused venture capital and trading firm Kenetic Capital.
Chu said that while Bitcoin could soar to $ 55,000, investors should expect a “significant drop to below $ 30,000,” setting the stage for a long, steady march “to $ 100,000 in 2022 .
More negative news came this month after hackers stole $ 600 million in one of the largest cryptocurrency heists in history. But in a bizarre turn of events, the hackers eventually returned almost all of the stolen money.
This didn’t seem to worry the Bitcoin bulls.
Ayyar von Luno said Bitcoin is approaching a resistance level between $ 48,000 and $ 50,000.
“I wouldn’t expect bitcoin to go through all of a sudden,” Ayyar said, adding that the digital coin “will definitely return to all-time highs” if it breaks that level of support.
