Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the psychological barrier of $50,000 yesterday as bulls took control of the market to push it beyond $51,000 in the early hours today. As a result, BTC dominance rose to 43.8 per cent. The global crypto market cap stood at $2.21 trillion as of 9 am IST with an increase of 2.6 per cent over the last day. Trade volumes across exchanges saw a modest growth of 3.8 per cent.

After teasing the $50,000 level for the past two days, BTC finally broke out of its multi-month long range, securing a daily close above $50,000, flipping it for major support for the coming days. Bulls carried the momentum forward until it got rejected at the $51,900 level. BTC is currently trading at $51,300, up by 4.4 per cent from the previous day. Its next major resistance is at $52,800.

Ethereum (ETH) had a short rally breaking the major resistance level of $3,460 to go past $3,500. However, momentum was shortly contained as ETH slid back to trade at $3,480 at day’s close with an overall gain of 2.8 per cent.

With BTC leading the show, top 20 altcoins had a mixed day with no significant price action throughout the day. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) managed to register over 4 per cent gains while Terra (LUNA), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL) took more than 3 per cent losses. Shiba Inu (SHIB) continued to gain massively with a 40 per cent increase after Elon Musk tweeted a photo of a Shiba puppy on a Tesla. Axie Infinity (AXS) had a steep 10 per cent decline after a strong rally leading into the previous weekend.

The recent price action of BTC has prompted traders to extend their short-term target to $55,000 in the upcoming days. However, there is cautious optimism among buyers as the US House of Representatives is expected to vote on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill later this month.

Top Gainers today:

1. Shiba Inu (SHIB) : 40.0%

2. Siacoin (SC) : 23.2%

3. Theta (THETA) : 12.1%

Top Loser today:

1. ICON (ICX) : -11.9%

2. OMG Network (OMG) : -11.1%

3. Axie Infinity (AXS): -10.0%

Analysis includes the top 100 cryptocurrencies only as of 9 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

1. Minneapolis-based US Bank has rolled out crypto custody services for those institutional investment managers with private funds in the US or Cayman Islands who want Bitcoin (BTC) exposure. The bank has selected NYDIG as the first crypto sub-custodian.

2. Brazil is looking to pass a crypto bill that will require companies to maintain closer records of their transactions and customers and create more severe penalties for crypto-related crimes.

3. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) director, more than 100 countries are exploring how to launch central digital bank currencies (CBDC), also known as digital currency.

4. New Zealand-based crypto exchange Easy Crypto has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Nuance Connected Capital to expand globally into new markets.

5. According to digital assets firm CoinShares, despite the total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum (ETH) decreasing this year due to emerging layer-1 protocols, fund managers see greater potential in ETH than BTC.