Bitcoin Price Holds at $43,000. What Traders See as the Next Catalyst for Gains.

The price of Bitcoin has risen less than 1% over the past 24 hours to $43,150, having earlier tumbled to $42,250 before rebounding. The largest crypto remains well off its January peak above $48,000—the highest levels since early 2022, reached amid the trading frenzy around the launch of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S.

“Bitcoin was bought back twice on dips to $42,200. This solid support significantly weakened the sellers’ onslaught, which quickly brought the price back to $43,000—the center of gravity … since early December. That’s also where the 50-day moving average now sits, suggesting that the market is still undecided about direction,” said Alex Kuptsikevich, an analyst at broker FxPro.

Bitcoin likely is to continue moving in step with other risk-sensitive assets—namely, stocks—in the days and weeks to come as investors remain focused on the outlook for inflation and interest rates. Economic data and central bank speakers could all shift tokens this week—but traders are also looking ahead to the next major crypto catalyst, especially as hype fades around long-awaited spot Bitcoin ETFs.

“Exclusive drivers for the crypto market (such as bitcoin ETFs, etc.) have so far played out, forcing investors to wait for the next signal,” said Kuptsikevich.

It might only take until April. In focus is the next Bitcoin “halving,” which is a change to the crypto’s programmatic monetary policy that will exert pressure on supply, possibly pushing prices higher. Bitcoin has a strong track record in the run-up to each halving, which occurs once every few years, with the next likely change taking place in April.

Beyond Bitcoin,

Ether

—the second-largest crypto—gained 1% to $2,330. Smaller tokens or altcoins were more mixed, with

Cardano

down 1% and

Polygon

1% in the green. Memecoins were more muted, with

Dogecoin

and

Shiba Inu

each trading close to flat.

Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com