[Bitcoin Now] Bitcoin Up 7% Amid Surge in US Tech Stocks... From 'Fear' to 'Neutral'

Rising to August Last Year Levels
Adverse Factors Like Genesis Bankruptcy Persist

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] As technology stocks rallied in the U.S. stock market, the price of the representative cryptocurrency Bitcoin rose by more than 7%.

Image source=Reuters·Yonhap News

According to the global cryptocurrency market tracking site CoinMarketCap, as of 9:58 a.m. on the 21st, the price of Bitcoin was recorded at $22,601 (approximately 27.91 million KRW), up 7.33% from the previous day. The $22,000 level was reached for the first time since August last year, recovering to the level before the global cryptocurrency exchange FTX's bankruptcy.

The price of Bitcoin rose on the 20th (local time) supported by the upward trend of the U.S. Nasdaq index, which is centered on technology stocks. The Nasdaq index, focused on technology stocks, closed up 288.17 points (2.66%) at 11,140.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 330.93 points (1.00%) to 33,375.49, and the large-cap S&P 500 index closed at 3,972.61, up 73.76 points (1.89%).

Netflix, which disclosed subscriber growth in the fourth quarter of last year exceeding expectations, rose 8.46%, and Google Alphabet, which announced plans to cut 12,000 employees, more than 6% of its global workforce, jumped 5.34%. Tesla (4.91%), Amazon (3.81%), and Nvidia (6.41%) also showed strength. The market is increasingly confident that the Federal Reserve will raise the benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points at the February Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, as inflation easing has been confirmed.

As coin prices rose, investor sentiment also revived. According to cryptocurrency data provider Alternative, the Fear & Greed Index, which expresses investor sentiment as an index, rose 2 points from the previous day to 53 points (neutral) on the day. The index, which recorded 31 points (fear) as recently as the 13th of this month, surged to 46 points (fear) the next day. Alternative’s Fear & Greed Index means that the closer to 0 points, the more extreme pessimism investors feel, and the closer to 100 points, the more optimistic they are.

However, despite the rising trend in cryptocurrency prices, negative factors still exist. Due to the aftermath of FTX, cryptocurrency lending company Genesis filed for bankruptcy on the 19th of this month at the U.S. Manhattan Federal Court in New York. According to the industry, Genesis has more than 100,000 creditors and debts estimated at up to $11 billion (approximately 13.585 trillion KRW). The company claimed that it is undergoing restructuring and can repay debts even to unsecured creditors. Genesis lent cryptocurrencies to the crypto hedge fund 3AC and FTX’s affiliate Alameda Research, but has been experiencing liquidity crises as they went bankrupt.