Bitcoin made a strong push towards the $50,000 mark on Monday, but ultimately fell short of breaking through that level, according to data from Indices. The cryptocurrency faced selling pressure on popular exchanges Binance and Coinbase, which resulted in a temporary halt to its upward momentum.
At the U.S. market open, spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) experienced significant trading volumes as the price of bitcoin surged from $48,000 to just below $50,000. The CD20 Index, which tracks the performance of the largest cryptocurrencies, saw a 1.72% increase over the course of 24 hours.
The ETFs offered by BlackRock (IBIT) and Fidelity (FBTC), two major players in the financial industry, saw their strongest opening-hour trading volume since January 22. Share prices for these ETFs rose by approximately 5%, indicating a potential influx of buyers entering the market after the weekend to allocate fresh funds.
However, despite the bullish sentiment surrounding bitcoin, sell orders on Binance and Coinbase overwhelmed the buying pressure, causing the cryptocurrency’s upward trend to stall, at least temporarily. Binance’s order book data revealed a sell order of 800 BTC (equivalent to $40 million) at the $50,000 level, while Coinbase registered a sell order of 330 BTC. This heavy profit-taking activity suggests that some investors were eager to cash in on their gains as bitcoin approached the $50,000 mark.
At the time of writing, bitcoin was trading at around $49,700, representing a 3.4% increase over the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency’s inability to break through the $50,000 resistance level highlights the significance of this psychological barrier for investors and traders.
Overall, while bitcoin’s rally towards $50,000 generated excitement in the market, the presence of profit-taking sell orders on major exchanges prevented the cryptocurrency from reaching this milestone. The strong trading volumes of ETFs offered by BlackRock and Fidelity indicate continued interest from institutional investors, but the resistance at $50,000 suggests that further consolidation may be needed before bitcoin can make another significant move upwards.