The largest cryptocurrency by market value, Bitcoin (BTC), has confirmed a bullish signal on its weekly chart.
Bitcoin’s weekly simple moving average (SMA) 50 has crossed above the weekly SMA 200 for the first time on record, confirming the bullish golden cross, which indicates a long-term bull market going forward.
Bitcoin experienced a weekly death cross in 2023, marking the bottom of the bear market. Fast forward to 2024, and Bitcoin has topped $49,000, reaching levels not seen since December 2021, just after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first spot Bitcoin ETFs to trade in the U.S.
Bitcoin fell subsequently, as many traders expected, with the cryptocurrency now trading 16% lower from its recent high of above $49,000 set after 11 spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading in the United States last Thursday.
At the time of writing, BTC was down 0.01% in the previous 24 hours to $42,541.
Massive bullish event nears
After Bitcoin ETF approval, investors seem to be positioning for the upcoming Bitcoin halving, in which the mining incentive for mining Bitcoin and the revenue of the mining businesses will be slashed in half, according to the Bitcoin code.
The halving, anticipated in April, compares to a market-clearing event for miners. Although it has historically preceded significant gains in Bitcoin, which have benefited mining stocks, the event may drive unprofitable miners out of the market, allowing more sustainable miners to acquire market share.
While the fourth halving is scheduled to take place at block height 840,000, the exact date is unknown due to the natural variability and probabilistic nature of mining blocks.
On-chain analytics firm Glassnode says its best estimate based on the current average block interval would be that the halving is now 100 days away.