Bitcoin and Altcoins Rise as Bullish Sentiment Spreads

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies experienced a positive surge on Tuesday as the market entered a busy period. Smaller digital assets, in particular, displayed a strong performance, indicating widespread bullish sentiment within the crypto space.

Bitcoin saw a 3% increase in price over the past 24 hours, reaching nearly $43,500. While this is the highest level in almost three weeks, it still falls short of the recent peak above $48,000 that was achieved during the trading frenzy surrounding the U.S. approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

According to analyst Alex Kuptsikevich from broker FxPro, Bitcoin surpassing its 50-day moving average and climbing above $43,300 is a significant development but not yet solid evidence of a bullish trend.

Notably, Bitcoin has recently gained momentum alongside the surging stock market. On Monday, both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed at record highs. As a result, cryptocurrencies are likely to react to similar catalysts as stocks in the coming days, which include earnings reports from tech companies, the latest Federal Reserve monetary policy decision, and the U.S. jobs report. These factors have the potential to impact risk-sensitive assets.

However, it is the recent strength of altcoins that tells a different story. Altcoins refer to smaller tokens beyond Bitcoin and Ether, the second-largest digital asset. These smaller cryptocurrencies have performed exceptionally well in terms of price appreciation. For instance, while Bitcoin rose by 9% over the past five days, Cardano experienced a 14% surge, and Solana's value skyrocketed by almost one-third in just one week. Even meme-based coins like Dogecoin saw an upward push.

According to Kuptsikevich, the consistently positive performance of altcoins over the past six days signals optimism and sets Bitcoin up for a potential test of $46,000. The outperformance of major altcoins suggests that there is a broadening interest among participants beyond just the two largest coins.

In addition to Bitcoin, Ether also saw a 2% increase, reaching above $2,300 on Tuesday. Cardano gained 8%, and Polygon rose by 2%. Dogecoin increased by 1%, and Shiba Inu, another meme-based coin, saw a 3% rise.