coindesk.com
Impressive gains since the U.S. Federal Reserve's mid-September rate cut have pushed bitcoin (BTC) out of its downtrend and the crypto is now targeting $70,000 and then new record highs, according to a new research report.
"Are you holding enough bitcoin and altcoins to ride the new wave," is the subtitle of 10X Research's Markus Thielen's latest analysis. "With bitcoin breaking above $65,000, we anticipate a swift move toward $70,000, followed by new all-time highs in the near term."
Thielen took note of a sharp increase in stablecoin minting following the Fed's July meeting, at which it left rates unchanged but indicated a September easing was likely. Nearly $10 billion in stablecoin minting ensued in the subsequent weeks, said Thielen, flooding the crypto markets with liquidity and sharply surpassing spot ETF flows.
Of particular interest, said Thielen, Circle's $USDC accounted for 40% of recent stablecoin inflows, a far higher share versus Tether's $USDT than is typical. It's important, he said, as while $USDT minting on TRON is typically associated with capital preservation, $USDC minting could indicate a rise in DeFi activity.
Noting that 55% of currently mined bitcoins are coming from Chinese mining pools, Thielen said that country's massive monetary and fiscal stimulus measures – announced just after the Fed rate cut – could trigger large capital outflows from China and into cryptos.
"The likelihood of a Q4 rally is exceptionally high, with gains likely front-loaded," Thielen concluded. "A major surge could be on the horizon, sparking even more FOMO across the crypto space."
Bitcoin currently is higher by 2.3% over the past 24 hours and nearly 12% month-over-month to $66,300, its highest level since late July.
Read more: Bitcoin Prices Show Positive 30-Day Correlation With China's Central Bank Balance Sheet