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2 Oct, 2023

Bitcoin smashes past $28K

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All investments and trading are risky and may result in the loss of capital. Cryptoassets are largely unregulated and are therefore not subject to protection.

What’s up

Crypto Hails Start Of 'Uptober'

On a weekend that saw U.S. lawmakers reach a last-minute deal to keep the government running (at least for another 45 days), crypto seemed to realize in a panic that its season was on the brink.

In barely 15 minutes, Bitcoin, on Sunday morning, broke loose from $27,100 to shoot above $28,000.

As of Monday at 8:20 a.m. (EST), BTC was about $28,250 on a 4% gain in 24 hours. The second-biggest digital asset, Ethereum, increased 2.3% to reach $1,730.

"The sudden movement has left most in the community scratching their heads," Cointelegraph said.

"Welcome to Uptober," said Michaël van de Poppe, a trading technician who is widely followed on social media.

October, per CoinGlass, has only produced negative monthly returns twice in the past ten years.

But it's not just that crypto seems to fare well in the calendar year’s tenth month now primarily synonymous with pumpkin spice lattes; the coming fourth quarter looks promising based partly on the prospects for spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) approvals (possibly in early 2024) but also because of some pre-halving heroics that could see BTC challenge $40K.

Among altcoins, Solana had the biggest gain, up 4.1%. XRP was flat.

A fresh bout of “floodgate fever” might have the market's blood boiling, this after the SEC in a spasmodic fit a couple of days ago green lighted a slew of ETF products based on ETH futures.

What's down

Dejected Ethereum Glad To See Q4 Arrive

Total crypto market capitalization fell 10% in the third quarter to reach $1.07 trillion as of Sept. 30.

Already, barely one day into the fourth quarter, that total has bobbed back above $1.1 trillion.

One digital asset that suffered its share of struggles in Q3 was Ethereum. July kicked off with ETH crossing $2,000 but the second-largest crypto finished the quarter at about $1,680, down roughly 13%.

But a new catalyst cometh: Valkyrie told Reuters it got SEC approval to convert its existing BTC futures ETF into a fund that invests in both BTC and ETH futures. The reconfigured ETF was expected to start trading today. VanEck and ProShares also received approval from the SEC to list ETH futures ETFs. Still more rival products are coming soon as well.

What's next

Crypto Marks “Time To Rally” On Calendar

When the books closed on the just concluded month, Bitcoin was in the green (+4% over 30 days) following seven years of bad luck in September.

Recall in September of last year, BTC shed 3%. The September before that, the largest crypto lost 7%, which was a mirror (accidentally shattered, it would seem) of the loss BTC endured in September of 2020. We could go on.

The last time BTC had a green September was in 2016 when BTC gained 6%.

So now it's on to October arriving in grand fashion to a rousing ovation. The community is hungry for positivity after Q3 saw BTC decline 11.5%. That was its first quarterly loss of this year. Impressive upside is observable over the rolling 12-month time frame, with BTC up 40%.

In a world that keeps on spinning oblivious to mankind’s numerical proclivities, things like monthly time frames can seem arbitrary. But we can't help ourselves.

“In the past, a green September resulted in a green October, November and December as well,” one trader/pundit, Jelle, said in a post on X. "Will history repeat?"


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