Bitcoin Just Had Its 4th-best Quarter Ever — A ‘Good Omen’ For 2023

Bitcoin has broken from a tight three-week range to clear $30,000 for the first time in 10 months.

BTC is now up more than 80% this year, having climbed from around $16,500 on Jan. 1 to  $30,100 as of 3 am, ET.

Crypto-focused financial services firm NYDIG found this year’s first quarter was Bitcoin’s fourth-best on record.

While past performance is not indicative of future results, a positive first quarter has been a “good omen” for bitcoin for the rest of the year, per NYDIG.

“Bitcoin has never had a down year after a positive first quarter and some of its best first quarters, like in 2011 and 2013, led to massive full-year returns,” the firm said.

Bitcoin has outperformed benchmark indexes across equities and commodities year to date — the S&P 500 is up 7.5%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has gained 20% while the GSCI is about flat.

Meanwhile, open interest for bitcoin futures is close to $12.9 billion, up 42% over the past month.

Bitcoin and ether are still catching up major benchmarks over the past year

Still, outsized gains mirroring 2011’s 1,426% appreciation and 2013’s 5,428% jump are “unlikely” to happen again, NYDIG said.

James Lavish, managing partner at the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, told Blockworks that recent performance appears to be correlated with macroeconomic developments in the US.

“I think the reason for bitcoin’s price move today are traders speculating that this week’s CPI number could come in at a level that gives the Federal Reserve reason to think about pausing raising rates in the next meeting.”

It comes as the percentage of bitcoin holders in unrealized profit hit its highest point in almost a year, according to Glassnode.

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