BTC And SOL Continue To Gain Momentum As Other Markets Make Steady Comeback

Bitcoin (BTC) recently surpassed $44,000 for the first time in over a year. However, the cryptocurrency has since lost some momentum and is currently trading just below this level. Solana (SOL) has demonstrated the most significant increase among larger-cap altcoins, with a daily gain of over 10%, reaching a 19-month peak above $80 and is currently trading at just over $90.

BTC still on track

Bullish activity prevented further declines in the crypto market, as BTC steadily gained momentum when it surged by nearly three thousand dollars within hours and reached above $43,000. Although there was a brief retracement that temporarily pushed the cryptocurrency below $42,000, it quickly rebounded.

SOL, along with a significant portion of its ecosystem, has been leading recent price surges. In the past 24 hours alone, SOL experienced a substantial 11% increase, reaching $85. This marks the highest price since May 2022, and SOL has surpassed XRP to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. To be fair, most of the price increase had to do with the recent BONK craze and the Solana Saga Web3 phone.

Other larger-cap altcoins such as Avalanche and Polkadot have also seen gains, with AVAX rising by 8.5% to trade above $45, and DOT nearing $7.5 after a 6% daily increase. Additional gains have been observed in IoTeX (22%), PancakeSwap (20%), Near Protocol (16%), and Neo (11%). The overall cryptocurrency market cap increased by $30 billion overnight, approaching $1.650 trillion on CMC.

Other markets

European and U.S. stock futures declined amid speculation that investors are adjusting positions ahead of the release of a U.S. inflation gauge, which could impact Federal Reserve policy. Shares in Asia also fell following the recent announcement bY China concerning new restrictions on online gaming, affecting major technology shares like Tencent Holdings Ltd. and NetEase Inc.

Oil prices continued their upward trend, with Brent near $80 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate above $74 a barrel, driven by renewed attacks in the Red Sea leading to altered shipping routes. The Southeast Asian stock markets are experiencing a nascent rebound too, attributed to an improving economic outlook which led to an outperformance of broader indexes for Asia Pacific and global stocks.

Finally, the MSCI ASEAN Index rose more than 3% since Fed Chair Jerome Powell made his recent speech, extending gains that began in November after a challenging year due to foreign outflows and a regional slowdown in exports.