(Kitco News) – Asset prices continued on their road to recovery in trading on Thursday following a historic ‘Black Monday’ that wiped trillions of dollars from financial markets and led to a spike in fear that a recession was imminent.
Investor sentiment also climbed after the weekly initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell more than forecasted, providing reassurance to market watchers that the labor situation is not as dire as last week’s non-farm payrolls report first suggested.
The pullback has transformed into a ‘buy-the-dip’ opportunity for traders across asset classes, as stocks, cryptos, oil, gold, and silver climbed higher on Thursday.
At the closing bell, the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all finished in the green, up 2.30%, 1.76%, and 2.87%, respectively. At the time of writing, spot gold is up 1.36% and trades at $2,465.60, while spot silver has gained 2.43% and trades at $27.60.
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin (BTC) bounced from a low near $54,700 in the early morning, at which point bulls took control of the price action and stampeded their way back above $59,000 and now look to recapture support at $60,000.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
“Bitcoin is starting to regain momentum, navigating through some volatile swings,” said analysts at Secure Digital Markets. “We've finally seen a decisive break above the key $58,000 resistance level, with prices now eyeing the next targets at $60,250 and $63,000. Funding rates have settled across the board, and with the rally being largely spot-driven, the signs are looking bullish.”
At the time of writing, BTC trades at $59,750, an increase of 8.96% on the 24-hour chart.
Bullish factors mount
The bounce-back for Bitcoin and altcoins comes amid several positive developments, including the first signs of a resolution to the multi-year legal battle between Ripple and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“The long-awaited XRP settlement is here,” said Secure Digital Markets analysts. “A federal judge slapped Ripple with a $125 million fine, ruling that its institutional XRP sales violated federal securities laws. However, the judge reaffirmed that Ripple's retail sales through exchanges didn't breach any laws. In response, XRP surged from $0.50 to $0.64 (+28%), with trading volume skyrocketing to $4.2 billion (compared to $1.2 billion on Tuesday) and open interest jumping by $200 million.”
The ecosystem also moved closer to closing the book on the FTX saga, which rocked markets after the exchange collapsed in November 2022.
“The saga between FTX, Alameda Research, and the CFTC has reached a resolution,” the analysts noted. “A New York judge approved a consent order requiring them to pay $12.7 billion to creditors, putting an end to the 20-month lawsuit. While they've avoided civil penalties, the order bans them from trading digital assets and acting as market intermediaries.”
And while the debate rages as to whether the SEC will approve additional crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) following the historic launch of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH)
ETFs earlier in the year, regulators in Brazil looked to get a jump on competing jurisdictions and approved the launch of a Solana ETF.
“The Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) has given the green light to a Solana-based ETF, though it's still in a pre-operational phase and awaiting approval from the Brazilian stock exchange, B3,” the analysts noted.
Financial advisors at Morgan Stanley, the largest wirehouse in the U.S., were officially allowed to start recommending Bitcoin ETFs to their clients on Wednesday, which provided an additional boost in sentiment. Rumors that Wells Fargo could soon follow suit began circulating on Thursday, further exciting crypto holders and raising expectations for a bullish rally higher.
?? $1.9 trillion Wells Fargo to approve its advisors to pitch #Bitcoin ETFs: Reports ?
The new BTC marketing team is here ? pic.twitter.com/ZNb8TcbH6m— Vivek⚡️ (@Vivek4real_) August 7, 2024
“Like holding a float underwater, #Bitcoin has bounced back yet again from Level 2 of the Magic Bands at $55,444,” said market analyst CryptoCon. “This also means that the Level 3 target of now $94,302 is still intact.”
“The cycle top band has increased to $128,062 and will grow much more when price enters new ATHs,” he added. “During the 49.3k drop, price retested the intra-band below Level 2 perfectly. This is the 5th time this cycle that popular calls for a recession have brought a strong bounce back, strange how that works…”
Market analyst LSDinmysoul said that how Bitcoin performs in the small region between $59,000 and $60,000 will determine whether it makes a run at $65,000 or pulls back to $53,000.
Right now for $BTC, the white box is crucial. If BTC can flip on the daily, $65k is next. If it gets rejected, $53k is likely, acting as a key reversal point for $65k.
The vibes are back. Don’t let a shakeout shake your conviction. pic.twitter.com/SCXIc6ufCO— LSD.eth (@LSDinmysoul) August 8, 2024
Altcoins charge higher
It was a sea of green in the altcoin market as only two tokens in the top 200 recorded losses on Thursday.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Mog Coin (MOG) was the biggest winner, gaining 27.4%, while Sui (SUI) climbed 23.6%, and Ponke (PONKE) gained 20.4%. On the losing side, Aave’s (AAVE) price declined by 2.1%, and MANTRA (OM) fell by 0.9%.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.09 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 56.3%.
