Cryptoverse: Buoyant bitcoin helps market cruise past $2trln

Cryptoverse: Buoyant bitcoin helps market cruise past $2trln

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(Our weekly analysis of the wild world of cryptocurrencies)

As a bleak first quarter draws to a close, crypto seems to have the wind in its sails. It has pushed through the $2 trillion barrier and is proving surprisingly resilient amid global chaos.

At Monday's high of $47,765, market leader bitcoin broke above the narrow $34,000-$44,000 range it's traded in for most of 2022. Through a steady grind higher from a low just above $40,000 on March 21, it has gained 18%.

Its comparative steadiness, versus previous performance at least, contrasts with stock markets, traditional currencies and even safe-haven gold, which have been shaken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the Federal Reserve's tightening.

Bitcoin's jumpiness has waned of late.

Its 30-day volatility is around 4%, about two-thirds the level it was in June 2021, according to futures trading platform Coinglass. The highest this year was 4.56% on March 16.

This measures its deviation from its own standard levels, and bitcoin has still had wild swings, such as a 17% jump on March 1. But it's distinctly tamer than in 2021 when it could move as much as 40% in a day.

By comparison, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has whipsawed 5-6% on numerous days in