BTC Pushing Higher

Bitcoin prices are rallying hard on Monday, extending gains from Friday with the futures market now up 10% off last week’s lows. The leading crypto coin has had a slow start to October, typically seen as one of the best performing months, but now looks to be gathering momentum for an upside break. Industry data from CoinGlass shows that over $100 million in shorts have been liquidated in recent days as BTC turned higher. This short squeeze should keep prices propped up near-term as further shorts exit the market.

ECB Easing Expectations

Looking ahead this week, expectations of a fresh rate cut from the ECB should feed into bullish sentiment for risk markets, helping boost BTC. The bank is widely expected to cut rates by a further .25%, adding to easier financial conditions amidst the recent wave of G10 central bank easing. A recent wave of stimulus in China is also feeding into bullish BTC sentiment. With CNY inflation coming in weaker-than-forecast yesterday, the prospect of further stimulus looks likely to keep sentiment underpinned here.

Bitcoin Seasonality

Seasonally, October has seen positive returns in BTC for nine of the last eleven years. As such, bulls will be looking to capitalise on this trend. The big question now is whether we’ve seen institutional flow joining this last turn higher after the heavy outflow seen at the start of last week.  If ETF cash returns, this should help propel the market higher this week.

Technical Views

BTC

The rally in BTC has seen the market turning back above the 60,695 level. Price is now testing resistance at 65,025. Plenty of res to note locally with the bear trend line from YTD just above and 69,35 highs sitting around there also. With momentum studies turning higher, however, focus is on a continuation higher for now.