(Kitco News) – Investors were in high spirits to end the work week as asset prices from cryptos to stocks and gold trended higher, with many seeing the moves being made by President-elect Donald Trump as positive for markets.
Despite a bout of volatility in the morning session, stocks stabilized in the afternoon and enjoyed a solid finish to the day as the market recovered from the fallout caused by the Nvidia (NVDA) pullback.
At the market close, the S&P, Dow, and Nasdaq all finished in the green, up 0.35%, 0.97%, and 0.16%, respectively.
Gold capped a strong week with a surge back to $2,712/oz, and at the time of writing, trades at $2,711.60/oz for a gain of 1.61% on the session and 5.75% on the week. This marked the yellow metal's strongest weekly gain in over a year.
“The yellow metal rebounded sharply from two-month lows this week, taking some relief from mild weakness in the dollar,” said Maruf Yusupov, co-founder of the gold-backed stablecoin project Deenar. “With the latest escalation in the geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe, gold may find an anchor to surpass its previous all-time high. For the first time since the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out, Ukraine fired the US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to the Russian territory, setting a new strain in the conflict.”
“With the conflict escalation, financial systems tend to suffer, boosting the attractiveness of gold as a store of value,” he added. “This proven thesis played out as the price per ounce of gold jumped to” $2,711.69/oz.
Yusupov noted that the “potential retaliation to the latest attack from Russia might fuel an additional surge,” adding that “The market timing and the natural demand for gold in Q4 amid the festive season will also boost the price. Though many in the market project that gold may surpass its ATH at $2,790 soon, Goldman Sachs is confident it will jump to $3000 next year.”
Bitcoin (BTC), meanwhile, continued to flirt with $100,000 as bulls look determined to finally eclipse the highly prized price point, though bears are doing everything in their power to stop it.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
King Crypto established a new record high of $99,880 on Friday, with many analysts saying that $100,000 could come over the weekend when institutions are closed, and retail FOMO has the potential to lift the market.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at $99,164, an increase of 1.25% on the 24-hour chart.
To $100k, and beyond
While Bitcoin has been on a tear recently, with its rapid price ascension giving some crypto traders flashbacks of previous cycles and the rapid price decline that sometimes follows, Dhaval Joshi, Chief Counterpoint Strategist at BCA Research, said the market is still a long way from entering the next crypto winter.
“Despite Bitcoin’s election-fuelled rally, its 260-day complexity is not yet close to the 1.2 level that would signal the start of another crypto winter,” he said. “Hence, while we should expect a near-term retracement, Bitcoin’s structural uptrend is intact with an ultimate destination of $200,000+.”
Dhaval explained that to understand the value of Bitcoin, one must understand the value of gold, both of which come from the collective belief that they are the “non-confiscatable” assets to own in a fiat monetary system as insurance against hyperinflation, banking system failure, or state expropriation.
Therefore, as global wealth rises, the value of the network effect of both gold and Bitcoin will also rise, though Dhaval said that “Bitcoin has considerably more upside than gold.”
Dhaval’s outlook on Bitcoin is similar to that of many analysts, and its rapid climb following Donald Trump’s re-election has surpassed the bullish expectations of some.
“While the wave count has been correct in direction, the move to complete Wave III in this bull run has far exceeded my expectations,” said John Glover, Chief Investment Officer at Ledn, in a note to Kitco Crypto. “While I still believe we have a correction coming, we may be experiencing what is referred to as a 5th Wave Extension in Elliott Wave Theory.”
“The initial target of Wave III was ~$85k,” he noted. “If we truly experience an extension of wave 5 of Wave III, this could take us all the way to $127k before completion (green line). Again, this is not my favored count, but it is a common target in the event of an extension.”
Glover said that while he still expects “that we are traveling along the orange line in the chart, if we do experience this, then the ultimate 5 wave target is much higher ($160k to 180k) before this bull run runs out of steam. Dips to $75/$80k is the area to add to longs IMO.”
According to Intelligent Alpha, a firm that utilizes three artificial intelligence platforms – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude – to make investment decisions, their data shows that Bitcoin could hit $140,000 this cycle.
“In the bull case – which was a Trump win and a more favorable regulatory environment – AI saw that Bitcoin could maybe go to $140,000,” Intelligent Alpha founder and CEO Doug Clinton told Coindesk. “Maybe that's the scenario we're working toward right now.
Market analyst Moustache thinks it will only be a matter of hours before Bitcoin hits $100,000, but unlike the many analysts calling for a profit-taking pullback, he sees the possibility of a FOMO rally pushing it as high as $120,000.
#Bitcoin
Maybe a few more hours until $BTC breaks through $100,000 for the first time.
And then 95% will wait for the big short, but I think $BTC will go higher and higher, towards 120k.
Altcoin Party afterwards.— ???????ⓗ? ? (@el_crypto_prof) November 22, 2024
MN Consultancy founder Michaël van de Poppe highlighted some macroeconomic developments that could help propel cryptos higher in the near term.
Economic markets are getting worse, as PMI data today showed negative results.
- Japan has started QE.
- China has had the largest QE to date.
- The USA is about to start QE and do rate cuts to stimulate the economy.$ETH, $BTC and #Crypto to thrive.
Easy. pic.twitter.com/gec1aTUT8t— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) November 22, 2024
And market analyst Crypto Max kept things simple, saying that while no one knows what happens next as cryptos enter a new era of legitimacy, prices will go higher, and traders would be wise to take profits along the way.
I do not know what happens from here. No one does. This is actually an unprecedented paradigm shift of what crypto is, what $BTC is, and how $BTC plays a role in the global economy.
The only thing that makes sense is we go far higher, and we take profits along the journey.— Crypto Max (@ScruFFuR) November 22, 2024
Altcoins see mixed results
Altcoins traded mixed with the market’s focus on Bitcoin, with some tokens seeing a price surge while others floundered.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Sologenic (SOLO) price rocketed 116.9% to lead the gainers, while Stellar (XLM) rallied 38.5%, and Cardano (ADA) gained 23.5%. Meme coins fell amid the focus on more legitimate use cases, with Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) losing 17.7%, Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) falling 16.8%, and Act I: The AI Prophecy (ACT) declining by 15.7%.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $3.3 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 59.4%.
