Bitcoin Trades at $40K as Rebound Rally Stalls

The largest cryptocurrency at one point had surged as high as $43,000, regaining almost all of the ground lost during Wednesday’s 14% price plunge, which was the biggest single-day decline in 14 months.

Shortly after 16:00 coordinated universal time (noon ET), bitcoin dropped about 5%. That move coincided roughly with the publication of a U.S. Treasury report calling for businesses that receive transfers of more than $10,000 in cryptocurrencies to report them to the Internal Revenue Service.

“There are definitely still some downside risks left short-term, and markets rarely rebound in one single move up,” said Jean-Marc Bonnefous, managing partner of investment firm Tellurian Capital. “Political noise, with news of tax rules tightening, is still weighing on a prompt recovery.”

• Matt Blom, head of sales and trading for the digital-asset firm Equos, wrote in his daily newsletter that a move back above $42,800 "will FOMO those on the sidelines back into BTC."
• "Resistance at $44,000 will be the first blocker on thoughts of Bitcoin returning to trade with a $50,000 handle," according to Blom. "Should we reach $38,800, and should bulls fail to protect it, then $33,800 awaits. Any move down will likely see more drama, as fear once again returns to the market."
• "Short-term price movements are difficult to predict, but thus far we are encouraged by the resiliency in price," Greg Cipolaro, head of research for the bitcoin-focused asset manager Nydig, wrote Thursday in an email. "Only in hindsight will we know for certain whether the recent events were a mid-cycle correction or part of a larger cyclical risk-off move."

Bitcoin’s rebound came as U.S. stocks rallied on positive economic news, while the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds declined four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 1.63%.