US Bank Bloodbath: Bitcoin Reaches $23.7K, SVB Dip As "Bear Trap"

As Wall Street opens to numerous bank stocks suspended due to steep losses, the price of bitcoin has increased by around 20% in recent days.

On March 13, as U.S. bank stock prices experienced the greatest mass halt in history, bitcoin reached its highest level since the beginning of the month.

Bitcoin Price Experiences "Phenomenal" Uptick

An hourly candle for BTC/USD that was strongly bullish hit $23,725 on Bitstamp.

Market participants, many of whom had forewarned of severe volatility before the Wall Street open, anxiously anticipated the move.

This actually happened, with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies profiting from the heightened apprehension surrounding bank equities in especially as trade got going.

Two more U.S. banks failed over the weekend, and the effects were felt not only at home but abroad in Europe, where banks suffered significant losses.

Michal van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading company Eight said.

"Trend is back up, buying the dip on S/R flips seems the game. Resistance around $23.3-23.6K, if it stalls and consolidates, altcoins should continue."

Even though it had previously been argued that the monthly candle needed to shut in order to confirm a longer-term trend break, Bitcoin's drop below $20,000 the previous week was nevertheless referred to as a "bear trap."

The way Bitcoin has recovered within such a short length of time only confirms that the collapse to ~$20000 was a Bear Trap," he stated in one of numerous tweets as BTC/USD crossed $23,500.

Further research dubbed the upswing "phenomenal," adding 18% over the March 10 local lows.

Bank Equities Were Suspended When Crisis Reached Europe

First Republic Bank was among the worst performers of the day, losing 76% and having trading suspended shortly after the opening bell. Overall, more American bank stocks were suspended than ever before.

Markets were altering their expectations for the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise interest rates this week as well as reconsidering the chance that the Fed would continue to do so on March 22.

The already troubled Credit Suisse (CS), which was down almost 7% to new all-time lows as of the time of writing, was one of the European companies that lost money on the day.

Alastair Macleod, head of research for Goldmoney, questioned,

"The problem for Credit Suisse (and others like it) is that it cannot offset deposit flight by borrowing in money markets. It can only go to the Swiss National Bank, in effect for a second bail out. Would the SNB play ball?"