Bitcoin surges above $18K to cap 8-day winning streak

Bitcoin (BTC $18,100) has clocked eight straight days of increasing prices and has surged back above $18,000 for the first time since mid-December.

The cryptocurrency had not recorded such a prolonged winning streak since July 2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the last seven days, the price of BTC has increased nearly 8%, with a 4.1% surge in the last 24 hours at the time of writing.

Coin telegraph analysts predicted on Jan. 11 that Bitcoin could rally to $18,000 and that its upward price movement put pressure on $275 million worth of weekly options expiring Jan. 13 with bets placed at $16,500 and lower.

Hedge fund Moskovskiy Capital’s CEO, Lex Moskovskiy, tweeted an image on Jan. 11 showing $86 million worth of Bitcoin shorts were “getting smoked royally.”

BTC’s price fell nearly 65% over 2022. The wider crypto market also faced headwinds resulting from numerous bankruptcies and collapses in the space in the same year including crypto exchange FTX, the second-largest exchange at the time of its bankruptcy.

On Jan. 11, FTX said it had recovered $5 billion in cash and cryptocurrencies which it may sell to repay its creditors, a move that some say could form a bullish narrative if FTX customers are repaid.

The exchange also found several cryptocurrencies it says will be harder to sell as the markets for those assets are illiquid.

However, some have urged caution on the price, saying a BTC price rally is typical before the release of United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) data.