ALBAWABA – Bitcoin held near the $42,000 threshold on Tuesday, having broken over $40,000 earlier on Monday, as stocks worldwide fell following a sell-off wave on Wall Street.
Bitcoin breached the $40,000 barrier in early Monday trading, reaching more than $41,700, and later settled at $41,500, amid a wider surge in cryptocurrency.
Ether, the coin linked to the Ethereum blockchain network, also hit a 1-1/2 year high on Monday, hitting $2,253.
Bitcoin fell less than 1 percent on Tuesday to trade at $41,772 as of 1045 Singapore Time, according to Bloomberg. Other virtual currencies such as Ether and BNB also posted small moves.
A 90-day correlation coefficient for Bitcoin and MSCI Inc.’s index of world shares has dropped to 0.18 from 0.60 at the start of the year, Bloomberg reported. A similar study for the token and spot gold shows the figure has declined to about nil from 0.36.
A reading of 1 indicates the assets are moving in lockstep, while -1 would show they’re moving in opposite directions.
Additionally, some technical indicators, such as a momentum gauge called the 14-day relative strength index, suggest Bitcoin’s rally has become stretched. The index stands at 75, just above the 70 level viewed as overbought.
Bitcoin has grown significantly this week as stocks worldwide slipped ahead of the holidays - Shutterstock
Meanwhile, a wave of sell-offs on Wall Street has caused an overall decline in stocks worldwide on Tuesday, spanning Asia, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom.
All three US indexes were in the red, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP), while across Asian markets and Europe were also down, with the exception of Frankfurt, which was flat.
Both Bloomberg and AFP reported analysts forecasting a “near-term volatility in both rates and equities” in December, ahead of a more promising January.
