Bitcoin’s wild ride accelerates with push back above $34 000

Bitcoin resumed its push higher, bouncing off a closely watched moving price average, amid rising optimism of growing demand from institutional investors.

Eric Peters of One River Asset Management told Bloomberg that his hedge fund’s holdings of digital assets has exceeded $1 billion, adding that institutional adoption of crypto assets — which played a large role in Bitcoin’s rally this past year — is only expanding. Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio called the coin “one hell of an invention,” adding that the firm is considering cryptocurrencies for two new funds.

The largest cryptocurrency rose 8.3% to $33 558 as of 6:10 p.m. in New York. It had dropped below $30 000 on Wednesday, testing its 90-day moving average.

“$30 000 is key support and there appears to be a rising wave of institutional interest buying all dips,” said Mike McGlone, Bloomberg Intelligence Commodity Strategist.

The wild swings come amid the turmoil seen in stocks such as GameStop Corp. that have become favourites of retail investors. Advocates have called the activity in the equity markets as another sign of revolt against traditional structures and pointed out the advantages of the decentralised nature of crypto finance.

SkyBridge Capital’s Anthony Scaramucci said that the turmoil is an affirmation of financial decentralisation, which has long been the guiding force behind Bitcoin. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini Trust Co, told CNBC Thursday that there are common themes between traders on Reddit and those investing in cryptocurrencies.

© 2021 Bloomberg