Bitcoin Close to $10,000 level as Gold hits a Seven-Year High

Bitcoin’s price has retracted after coming close to breaching $10,000, while a positive outlook from the Federal Reserve comes as Gold hits its highest price level in seven years

Bitcoin came close to breaching $10,000 in early morning trading on Monday, as buyers pushed the coin to $9,966 on Bitstamp. Bitcoin prices also touched an intraday high of $9,960 on Binance.

Bitcoin’s swing to $10,000 — a psychologically significant level — came during prime time trading hours in Asian markets, as sentiment built on the positive outlook from the US and Europe. Bitcoin’s uptick followed the gains seen in the Gold and Oil markets.

BTC/USD rose to a high of $9,966 on Bitstamp, following after an earlier attempt on Friday to top $10,100 and close last week’s CME futures gap. The price of Bitcoin, however, dropped to lows of $9,300 on Saturday, and its spike to $9,966 on Bitstamp means the currency had added close to $600 to its value in just two days.

Bitcoin has since retraced to levels just above $9,700, with intraday gains trimmed by volatility. Bitcoin is up a marginal 2.29% on the daily charts as of press time, and needs to avoid dropping below immediate support at $9,720 to keep $9,900 in its sights.

Bullish momentum at this level could see it retake $10k, although a dive to $9,500 opens up last week’s lows at $9,300. Correcting lower puts support at the $9,200 area, which was a tough level for bulls through much of April, who struggled to break the $9,400 resistance level.

Gold hits seven-year high as Federal Reserve Chair remains positive

In the commodity markets, gold prices have surged in recent weeks to hit a new seven-year high with today’s 1.3% spike. The precious metal is trading at $1,760 per ounce, after hitting $1,765. It is the metal’s highest price since October 2012.

The upswing in gold prices follows recent spikes in bailout plans that saw governments spend trillions as stocks shrank in the wake of an economic downturn.

On Sunday, Jerome Powell told CBS during its 60 Minutes program that the Federal Reserve still had “ammunition” as he pointed to new strategies in the latest push to cushion the economy from shrinking further due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Assuming there is not a second wave of the coronavirus, I think you will see the economy recover steadily through the second half of this year,” Powell stated.

But the Federal Reserve Chairman did not have a completely rosy outlook, stating that US assets were set to be hit hard and that recovery for travel and entertainment would be much tougher post Coronavirus pandemic

In Europe, stocks have swung higher at the open as new data shows that there is a significant reduction in the number of new COVID-19 infections. European governments are also looking to ease lockdown measures further with the gradual reopening of businesses helping to push stocks higher. 

Meanwhile, several EU countries are set to remove bans on short-selling of shares that have been in place since March.