Bitcoin (BTC)the largest cryptocurrency, is on the verge of completing its first gold crossover since early February, a sign of strengthening bullish momentum in which the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) exceeds the 200 SMA days on an upward trajectory.
At press time, the 50-day SMA was $27,714 and rising, while the 200-day SMA was $28,174, according to charting platform Trading View. Bitcoin is up 30% in two weeks, reaching levels above $35,000, last seen in May 2022. CoinDesk Data to show.
A golden cross indicates that short-term price momentum is outpacing long-term price momentum, potentially moving into an uptrend. The opposite of the golden cross is the death cross in which the 50-day SMA falls below the 20-day equivalent.
Although these indicators are widely followed by trend-following traders, they are based on retrospective studies and have a mixed record as stand-alone indicators of up and down trends. BTC has experienced nine golden crossovers to date, three of which, dated July 11, 2014, July 15, 2015, and February 19, 2020, were invalidated in three months by fatal crossovers and notable downtrends.
The rest were followed by uptrends of varying degrees, as shown below.
A trader holding a long position for a year after the first two golden crosses and the one in May 2020 appeared would have made triple-digit percentage returns.
Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $69,000 in the weeks following the September 2021 Golden Cross, only to almost entirely erase its gains by the end of the three months. Bitcoin then fell into a death cross.
The impending Golden Cross could live up to its reputation, given optimism over the potential launch of a US-based cash ETF, macroeconomic uncertainty and The growing appeal of bitcoin as a safe haven asset and next year’s mining reward will be cut in half.
“Halvings are considered to have an upward effect on the price of BTC by reducing selling pressure from miners, but also by reducing the rate of dilution of the BTC supply,” the crypto platform said on Wednesday FRNT Financial in an email.
Bitcoin’s fourth reward, a code timed to reduce the pace of BTC supply expansion by 50% every four years, is scheduled for April 2024.