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Bitcoin Tops $84K, Battling Key Level for Bulls; SOL, LINK Lead Gains
The rebound in risk assets propelled BTC above its 200-day moving average, a key benchmark for the long-term trend.
Updated Mar 14, 2025, 5:05 p.m. Published Mar 14, 2025, 4:49 p.m.
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What to know:
- Cryptocurrencies rebounded on Friday, with BTC climbing to $85,000. Chainlink's LINK, Solana's SOL, and SUI led gains in the broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index.
- Risk appetite returned to traditional markets as well, lifting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes up 1.7% and 2.3%, respectively. Gold backed off from its fresh record above $3,000.
- Well-followed trader Bob Loukas said stocks and BTC have more room to run in the next weeks, recovering from oversold levels.
Sellers of risk assets are taking a breather on Friday, with crypto markets posting sizable gains along with U.S. stocks after a week of lame price action.
Bitcoin topped $85,000 at one point during U.S. hours and is now trading at $84,400, up 4.7% over the past 24 hours. All cryptos in the CoinDesk 20 Index were higher during the same period, with Chainlink's LINK, Solana's SOL and SUI leading gains.
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The price action happened as risk appetite returned to traditional markets as well. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq indexes were 1.7% and 2.3 up, respectively. Meanwhile, gold, whose price action trounced that of bitcoin during the selling of the past few weeks, backed down below $3,000 after crossing the level yesterday for the first time in its history.
"To see the market bouncing off these recent lows is most likely a combination of the macro news around risk assets (inflation/tariffs) and a sign that a more stable base for cryptocurrencies is coming into place given the drawdowns from the top just months ago,” Paul Howard, senior director of crypto trading firm Wincent, said in a Telegram note.
Some $2.6 billion in leveraged crypto derivatives positions have been liquidated over the past 7 days, predominantly longs, Howard pointed out, leaving the market on a healthier footing with flushing excessive leverage.
Can BTC bulls reclaim the 200-day moving average?
Today's bounce also propelled BTC back above its 200-day moving average after dipping below that trendline for the first time since last August's crypto correction. The 200-day moving average is a widely-used benchmark for traders and investors to gauge long-term trends for asset prices, often serving as support for prices to bounce in a bull market, while losing the level providing a risk-off or bear market signal.
Closing the day above the moving average, currently at $83,767, would be a win for bulls, fueling hopes that the worst of the correction might be over for now. Otherwise, confirming the moving average as resistance could foreshadow a deeper pullback.
Well-followed cross-asset trader Bob Loukas noted that bitcoin and stocks have more room to run "at least for a while," bouncing from oversold levels. "Feels like should be close to end of panic, for now at least, and spend at least a few weeks back recovering," he said earlier this week. "Then the market reassess."
UPDATE (March 14, 17:05 UTC): Adds analyst comment from Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent.
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