By CCN: The bitcoin price extended its triumphant rally past a new milestone, clearing the $9,000 barrier to set a fresh 12-month high. Minutes later, a $500 dump sent a chill through the market.
Bitcoin Price Slides $500 Minutes After Hitting 12-Month High
The flagship cryptocurrency had spent most of the morning trading near $8,750, but a sudden surge in volume catalyzed a sharp rally shortly before noon ET. Bitcoin quickly rallied past $9,000 – the first time it had crossed that market since early May 2018 – setting a new 12-month high at $9,096 on crypto exchange Bitstamp.
The bitcoin price pounded past $9,000 to set a new 2019 high, though it quickly slipped back to $8,800. | Source: Yahoo Finance
Unfortunately, the bears swiftly beat back the advance, and the rally stalled within minutes of eclipsing the $9,000 mark.
The bitcoin price suffered a brutal dump, and by 12:22 pm ET, BTC had careened as low as $8,589 – a decline of $507 or nearly 6% from its daily high.
Bulls: Bitcoin Will ‘Blast Through’ $10,000 This Week
Dump or not, crossing $9,000 – even momentarily – marks an important psychological step in bitcoin’s long road back to its all-time high.
Bulls were quick to point out that the cryptocurrency’s fundamentals are much stronger today than they were the last time it traded above that level.
The last time Bitcoin broke $9,000:
Square wasn’t selling it.
Fidelity wasn’t storing it.
Congress wasn’t fighting it.
Bakkt wasn’t launching with it.
Microsoft wasn’t building on it.
TD Ameritrade wasn’t trading it.
Whole Foods wasn’t accepting it.
— Rhythm (@Rhythmtrader) May 30, 2019
Naeem Aslam, the chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets, argues that BTC’s technical outlook also remains bullish, which is why he predicts that it will recover past $10,000 as soon as this week.
“Technically speaking, I think bitcoin price is likely to blast through level of 10K this week or by next week if the momentum continues at this pace,” Aslam wrote earlier this week. “The price is trading well above the important moving averages, 50, 100 and 200-day simple moving averages and the most important among all of them is the 242-day moving average.”
Bears: $10,000? Try a 95% Crash to $500
Bitcoin’s meteoric 2019 recovery hasn’t quieted the bears. | Source: Shutterstock
The bitcoin price has surged more than 140% in 2019, deftly defying ominous warnings that the cryptocurrency had entered a “death spiral” and would quickly plunge to zero.
The mammoth recovery has yielded a handful of converts, but many skeptics continue to dig in their heels.
Just this week, Silicon Valley investor Jason Calacanis – who owns bitcoin – predicted that BTC would be “replaced by a new technology” and would likely suffer a 95% crash to $500 over the long run.
Click here for a real-time bitcoin price chart.