Bitcoin Climbs Back Above $81,000 as Hyperliquid and NEAR Surge

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Courage is returning just ahead of the Fed: Bitcoin was trading at around $81,400 (about €72,700) on Wednesday morning, comfortably back above the $80,000 mark. On Monday, Trending Topics reported that Bitcoin had fallen below $80,000. Since then, the mood has shifted, and several altcoins are gaining considerably more than the largest cryptocurrency.

Prices at a Glance

The following table shows a selection of the largest crypto assets by market capitalization (excluding stablecoins), according to CoinGecko, as of Wednesday morning.

That gives Bitcoin a market capitalization of around $1.64 trillion. The largest cryptocurrency has gained about 2.4 percent in 24 hours but is still down a little over 2 percent for the week. The biggest daily gainers among the major coins are Bitcoin Cash, NEAR, Hyperliquid and Zcash, with gains ranging from just under 6 percent to just over 7 percent.

Why Zcash, Hyperliquid, NEAR and Bitcoin Cash Are Outpacing Bitcoin

It is not unusual for some altcoins to outperform Bitcoin on rebound days. This time, though, each of the four winners has its own reasons:

• Zcash: The privacy coin is heading toward its major NU7 network upgrade. According to the Zcash Foundation, it is set to activate next Thursday at block 3,543,405. NU7 cuts block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds and routes part of each transaction fee into future block rewards. Institutional money is also flowing in: Grayscale’s Zcash ETF recorded inflows of $41.1 million last week, after about $143 million left the fund over the previous three weeks.
• Hyperliquid: Payward, the parent company of the crypto exchange Kraken, wants to become the first operator regulated by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to launch its own markets on Hyperliquid, according to CoinCentral. This would be made possible by the HIP-3 upgrade, which allows permissioned markets on the decentralized derivatives exchange. The contracts would be cleared through Bitnomial, Payward’s regulated futures exchange. HIP-3 is still running only on a test network, however, and regulators have yet to give their approval. Even so, it could open the door for Hyperliquid to U.S. customers.
• NEAR: This is mainly a rebound, as NEAR is still down almost 10 percent for the week. Confidence is coming from a vote that closes next Monday. The community is deciding whether to cut the maximum annual issuance of new NEAR tokens from 2.5 percent to 1.6 percent. Fewer new tokens would mean less dilution for existing holders, though the staking yield would also fall from about 5.3 percent to 3.4 percent.
• Bitcoin Cash: BCH is the day’s biggest gainer and is also clearly up for the week. Regulated Bitcoin Cash futures recently began trading on the CME, and Grayscale is still waiting for the S.E.C. to approve its own Bitcoin Cash fund. Part of the rise is likely due to short sellers closing their positions: Open interest in BCH futures recently fell by about 7 percent while the price climbed.

All Eyes on Warsh

The day’s most important event comes in the evening, when the U.S. Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision. The Fed is expected to keep its benchmark rate at 4.0 percent. The key question is whether Fed Chair Kevin Warsh hints at a rate hike in December during his press conference. Sticky inflation and high energy prices tied to the war in the Middle East are causes for concern. Higher interest rates make borrowing more expensive and pull money out of riskier assets such as crypto.

Stock markets, on the other hand, are providing a tailwind. Strong quarterly results from the South Korean memory chipmaker SK Hynix, whose shares rose almost 11 percent, lifted tech and chip stocks in Asia, and cryptocurrencies benefited as well. An analysis by Galaxy is adding to the optimism: Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at the crypto financial services firm, believes the bear market already ended in June, when Bitcoin traded below $58,000. Bitcoin is now in an accumulation phase, Mr. Thorn wrote, according to CoinDesk. As evidence, he cites Bitcoin’s return above its 50-week moving average and easing selling pressure, among other factors.

ETFs: Two Days of Inflows

The tide has also turned for U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. After outflows the previous week, the funds took in $110.3 million on Monday and $176 million on Tuesday, according to Farside Investors. BlackRock’s IBIT accounted for the largest share on Tuesday, at $151.5 million.

Fear & Greed Index: Neutral

Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 51 points on Wednesday, in neutral territory. It was at 48 on Tuesday and at 63 points (“Greed”) a week ago. The index combines factors such as volatility, trading volume, social media sentiment and Bitcoin dominance into a single value between 0 (extreme fear) and 100 (extreme greed).

$82,500 Remains the Hurdle

The weak phase is not over yet. Bitcoin is heading for a loss of around 3 percent in October, which would be its second consecutive October in the red. On the upside, $82,500 remains the decisive level: Only a daily close above it would signal that the recovery is gaining momentum, according to CoinDesk. On the downside, the zone around $80,000 remains the most important support, a level the price has repeatedly clung to recently.