Market Wrap: Bitcoin Marches Past $20K as Investors Regain Their Appetite for Riskier Assets

Bitcoin (BTC) took a rare trip upward on Tuesday. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was recently trading at about $20,300, up nearly 5% over the past 24 hours as chronically risk-averse investors drew encouragement from a number of big brands’ third-quarter earnings reports. BTC last topped $20,000 on Oct. 5.

Ether (ETH) was even more buoyant, sprinting past $1,500, up more than 11% from Monday, same time, and its highest level since the Merge. The technological overhaul of the Ethereum blockchain on Sept. 15 shifted the protocol from proof-of-work to more energy-efficient proof-of-stake.

Other major altcoins were solidly in the green, with ADA and SOL recently rising more than 13% and 11%, respectively. UNI, the native token of the Uniswap decentralized exchange, recently jumped more than 8%.

The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), a broad-based market index that measures the performance of a basket of cryptocurrencies, climbed 5.59% over the past 24 hours.

In traditional markets, U.S. stocks continued their recent winning ways, rising for a third consecutive day as investors savored the upbeat third-quarter earnings reports from the likes of Coca-Cola and automotive giant GM. The tech-focused Nasdaq jumped 2.2%, while the S&P 500, which has a strong tech component, and Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbed 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively.

In commodities, Brent crude oil, a measure of energy markets, continued to trade over $91 per barrel, down slightly over the past 24 hours but up more than 15% from the start of the year. Safe-haven gold was flat at $1,652 per ounce.

The earnings season continues, with beleaguered social media monolith reporting its latest quarterly results on Wednesday. Tech firms have been among the hardest hit in this year’s stock bloodbath.

Following two consecutive monthly gains, the widely watched Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index sank. “Consumers’ expectations regarding the short-term outlook remained dismal,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. Investors will scrutinize housing starts and durable goods orders on Wednesday and the University of Michigan’s monthly Consumer Sentiment Index on Friday.

By Glenn Williams Jr

Institutional investor appetite for bitcoin may be rising despite BTC’s persistently flat trading range.

The “Commitment of Traders” report, released each Friday and reflecting data as of the prior Tuesday, shows that asset managers’ open interest in BTC is now 84% long (expectations of a rise) and 16% short (expectations of a decline).

The latest figures represent a slight increase from the prior week’s report where asset managers were 80% long and 20% short. We’ve seen this metric trend moderately higher since Sept. 6, when asset managers were 74% long BTC.

Read the full article by CoinDesk analyst Glenn Williams Jr.

Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) is a broad-based index designed to measure the market capitalization weighted performance of the digital asset market subject to minimum trading and exchange eligibility requirements.