Bitcoin and Ethereum's pricing has seemingly gathered upward momentum, as the world's most popular and valuable cryptocurrencies have seen substantial value increases over the weekend. As reported by CoinDesk, Bitcoin climbed 5%, opening Monday morning above the $22,000 mark for the first time since June's bloodbath-inducing crash (to the tune of 34%). Ethereum, which is of particular interest for anyone eyeing a GPU upgrade, posted even higher gains, reaching a 20% increase in the same period - it now trades at $1,479.
The cryptocurrency market crash in June happened as the market dipped even further in the "Extreme Fear" indicator, reaching one of the lowest-ever values of six points, according to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index. However, following the recent increase in confidence from investors during the last week, that same index now sits at twenty points.
There are some likely catalysts for the price recovery this weekend. On Friday, the Bank of America said it was seeing "continued signs of fading sell pressure" in crypto, "Over the last two weeks, digital assets' market value fell 4% vs. 30% over the prior four weeks," said Alkesh Shah and team in the note.
"When the market starts reacting positively to negative news, this is a signal that a local bottom could be in for now, as fear may have caused the news to be priced in," said GlobalBlock's Marcus Sotiriou on Monday morning, noting continued Fed hawkishness in the face of ugly inflation headlines continues.
Another element of note is Ethereum's snail-paced advances towards The Merge, the cryptocurrency's move from the Proof of Work consensus mechanism towards the more energy-efficient Proof of Stake. Expectations of a successful Merge come September - which have been buoyed by positive showings in Ethereum's Testnets - are mostly credited towards the cryptocurrency's strong performance. The rocketing price already caused a $230 million-worth short market liquidation event, as investors betting on reducing Ethereum price (bears) lost their bets against those edging for higher market prices (bulls).
Those hoping for the crypto "craze" to meet its demise under current market conditions were also faced with another high-profile remark predicting their resiliency. Speaking during a meeting of G20 financial officials, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) CEO Eddie Yue said cryptocurrencies in general and the Decentralized Finance (DeFi) sector, in particular, will continue to play an essential role in the financial sector - despite such bloodbath-like moments such as the Luna crash and the fall of not-so-decentralized lenders such as Celsius Network. But, of course, that doesn't bring about much relief to the many investors who have seen their investments vanish into thin air in both of these events.
Meanwhile, strengthening cryptocurrency prices will likely drive miners old and new back towards their income-generating activity. Even though Ethereum's Merge approaches, some sellers might think twice about selling their stash of some of today's Best GPUs - especially when some have been doing it at prices approaching $523 for an RTX 3080. And Bitcoin miners have been steadily upgrading their mining rigs for higher efficiency even as electricity prices soar on macroeconomic and inflation issues.
