Bitcoin Surges Past $62,000 Amid Market Rally

Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a notable surge, briefly crossing the $62,000 mark before pulling back during the early morning hours in Asia on Friday. This uptick comes as the broader cryptocurrency market begins to recover from a significant downturn earlier in the week. The recent rally has prompted some bitcoin advocates to rekindle hopes of reaching the $100,000 target by year-end.

On Thursday, U.S. stock markets witnessed a robust comeback, with the S&P 500 recording its best performance since November 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 also saw a remarkable increase of 3.1%. This resurgence helped to offset the steep losses experienced on Monday, which affected both stock indices and cryptocurrencies alike.

In the last 24 hours, BTC surged by an impressive 7.2%, marking one of its most substantial single-day percentage gains in recent months. This dramatic movement resulted in the liquidation of nearly $100 million in short positions, or bearish bets, on bitcoin-tracked futures. Notably, this liquidation marks the fourth-largest impact on bitcoin’s bearish bets this year.

Market analysts suggest that the recent gains can be attributed to a combination of positive sentiment in the stock market and the anticipation of BTC following historical market trends. Michael Terpin, founder of Transform Ventures, expressed in an email to CoinDesk, “With the Bank of Japan signaling no further interest rate hikes and the looming exhaustion of coins for sale by Jump Trading, I believe it is unlikely for the price to dip below $50,000 significantly, except for brief fluctuations.”

He further elaborated, “Regardless of what unfolds in the next two months, I believe the bull market will adhere to traditional four-year cycles, with substantial gains expected in October and November.” Terpin also noted, “Should Trump emerge victorious in the upcoming elections, we could see a new wave of buyers driving the bitcoin price well beyond $100,000.” He added that historically, the six months following the halving event have typically experienced pullbacks, and this current cycle is no exception. “October and November are historically robust months for bitcoin, especially in halving years and the subsequent year,” he stated.

Bitcoin’s recent rise has reinvigorated momentum among major cryptocurrencies. Ether (ETH) and toncoin (TON) both experienced a 10% increase, while Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA saw gains of around 5%. Conversely, XRP experienced a slight drop after a remarkable 17% surge on Thursday, likely due to profit-taking activity.

The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), an index that tracks the largest tokens by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins), surged by 5.35%, reflecting the overall positive sentiment in the cryptocurrency market.