Bitcoin (BTC) has surged back to nearly $82,000, marking a relief rally after briefly falling below $78,000 late Sunday, which prompted a modest recovery in major cryptocurrencies.
Ether (ETH), BNB Chain’s BNB, XRP, and Cardano’s ADA all experienced gains of up to 3%, helping to offset some of the losses incurred over the past week. The overall CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index increased by almost 4%.
In related news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed rulings on filings from XRP, Dogecoin, and Litecoin. Analysts from Bloomberg had earlier estimated the likelihood of ETF approvals for Litecoin at 90%, Dogecoin at 75%, and XRP at 65% by the end of the year, but the regulator’s continued indecision is leaving investors anxious.
Market participants are still anticipating a possible retracement to the $74,000 mark and even lower, ahead of a potential upward movement.
“In the past, a similar downturn would typically lead to a corrective pullback that attracted buyers,” stated Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, in an email to CoinDesk.
“Yet, the likelihood of this happening now is lower than in previous years due to the significant impact of traditional financial firms, which has created a stronger correlation between the crypto market and stock market movements. We believe a pullback to the $70K-$74K range is still highly probable. This becomes even more likely considering that the recent consolidation and rebound in early March has removed the short-term oversold conditions from the market,” Kuptsikevich added.
The rise in BTC coincided with Senator Cynthia Lummis reintroducing the BITCOIN Act, advocating for the U.S. government to acquire 1 million BTC as part of its strategic reserves. The proposed legislation, first presented by Lummis last year, would authorize the government to purchase this amount of Bitcoin over a five-year period.
To build this reserve, the first $6 billion allocated in remittances from reserve banks would be earmarked each year from 2025 to 2029, relying on the Federal Reserve’s gold certificates.
Speculation has emerged regarding the future inclusion of major tokens within such a reserve.
“Altcoins like XRP, SOL, and ADA have performed better than expected since pro-crypto Senator Lummis reintroduced her Bitcoin reserve bill, and there’s talk that previously mentioned altcoins may also be part of these reserve acquisitions,” shared Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, in a Telegram message to CoinDesk.
