Bitcoin, Ethereum Take A Breather While Dogecoin Spike Pushes Crypto Market Cap Above $2.6 Trillion — Analyst Sees BTC Hitting $80K Before Next Halving

Major cryptocurrencies traded mixed on Wednesday evening as Bitcoin’s momentum slowed and it experienced a small price correction.

What Happened: Over $9.4 billion worth of Bitcoin options are scheduled to expire on the Deribit cryptocurrency exchange on March 29. This indicates a potential maximum pain price of $50,000, according to data shared by Unfolded in a March 27 X post.

The max pain price is the strike price with the most open Bitcoin options contracts (puts and calls). It represents the price at which the majority of option holders would experience financial losses at expiration.

Last week, after experiencing five days of consecutive negative outflows, spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed a significant turnaround. On March 25, coinciding with Bitcoin’s highest daily close above $69,000 in the past 10 days, these ETFs observed a net flow of over $15 million. Furthermore, on March 26, the 10 Bitcoin ETFs collectively experienced a net inflow of $418 million.

Top Gainer (24 Hour)

The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.66 trillion, showing a 0.32%  decrease in the past 24 hours.

On Wednesday, stocks across all 11 sectors of the S&P 500 saw gains, indicating a broad rally. The utilities sector took the lead with a significant jump of almost 2.8%. Following closely behind, real estate experienced a 2.4% advance, while industrials added 1.6%.

The S&P 500 reached a record high as it heads toward its best first-quarter performance since 2019. The broader market index closed at 5,248.49, marking a gain of 0.86%. Additionally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw an advancement of 477.75 points, or 1.22%, ending at 39,760.08. Both indexes broke three-day losing streaks. The Nasdaq Composite also experienced an increase of 0.51%, closing at 16,399.52.

Later this week, investors will be keeping an eye on jobless claims, gross domestic product, and consumer sentiment data. Although the market is closed on Good Friday, the focus will be on economic releases related to personal income, consumer spending, and expected personal consumption expenditures in the morning.

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Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe suggests that from a technical perspective, keeping an eye on Bitcoin at the $67,000 mark is crucial.

"If that holds, we’ll likely see another ATH test pre-halving."

Van de Poppe believes that Bitcoin is about to see a significant increase, targeting a range of $75,000 to $80,000 leading up to the halving event. This forecast is based on Bitcoin’s current consolidation phase, suggesting a buildup towards testing its all-time high, with the potential for a subsequent correction. 

"I think that we’re close to the peak of this run, but I think we’ll have another ATH test, perhaps even $75-80K pre-halving and then we’re correcting. During that consolidation/correction phase, I expect altcoins to outperform."

Ali Martinez, an on-chain analyst stated that the most significant resistance barrier ahead of Bitcoin is between $70,180 and $70,600, where 292,000 addresses 397,000 BTC. “If BTC can break past this barrier, it will likely march toward new all-time highs."

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