Bitcoin price breaks $52,000 for the first time since May as El Salvador officially adopts BTC
The last month has seen the crypto market rally massively, with Bitcoin locking up profits of around 18% during this period.
- The El Salvadoran government recently revealed that it had made its first official crypto purchase worth 200 Bitcoin (BTC).
- The World Bank and IMF continue to warn El Salvador about the negative repercussions of legalizing BTC.
- Bitcoin’s ongoing rally has helped spur the value of many popular altcoins — such as Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Stellar — in a big way.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world, is once again on its way up after cleanly breaking through the all-important $50K resistance mark. Over the last week, the flagship crypto has continued to showcase gains of 12%. At press time, BTC is trading at a price point of $50,644.
Cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe highlighted that even though there are many support level targets for the digital asset to hold on to, there is no doubt that $47K may be the level to watch out for. He added:
“$47,000 remains to be the last low, so that is the one that you should be staying above if you want to avoid any breakdown, but we do see that we break about $50,000, so the previous resistance here is the level that you want to sustain.”
Poppe believes that if BTC can sustain its current levels, there is a high probability that the currency could continue to hold steady or start moving towards its all-time high levels that were achieved earlier this year in April.
El Salvador makes its first major BTC purchase
After it came to light that El Salvador had pushed forth a senate bill allowing BTC to be used as legal tender, the country’s president Nayib Bukele announced yesterday that the South American nation had made its first official Bitcoin purchase — which is reportedly around 200 BTC. “Our brokers will be buying a lot more as the deadline approaches,” President Bukele added.
This first purchase comes as part of a larger BTC fund pool — worth $147 million approximately — that the El Salvador government had set aside for its future crypto investment plans. The move generated a fair bit of backlash from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Both agencies warned Bukele that the monetary transition could have a major, irrevocable impact on the financial situation of many locals, especially retirees.
Looking ahead
As the bull market continues to forge on — with the combined market cap of the crypto sector currently standing at $2.4 trillion — it appears as though several altcoins may stand to benefit immensely if BTC can continue its upward ascent.
Ever since Bitcoin made its jump to $50K, prominent altcoins such as Litecoin, Stellar, and Bitcoin Cash have recorded gains over 30% each. Thus, it will be interesting to see how the market’s future plays out from here.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner’s guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing
