Did Emmanuel Macron just save Bitcoin?

It hasn’t been looking good for cryptos, but the market is enjoying a bit of a bounce at lunchtime on word that France had negotiated a possible diplomatic breakthrough aimed at avoiding a devastating war in eastern Europe.

Macron’s office said that Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin had agreed “in principle” to hold a summit, as long as Russia did not invade Ukraine, the BBC reported.

At lunchtime BTC was trading for just over US$39,250, down 2.2 per cent from 24 hours ago, but up from the two and a half-week low of US$38,200 it hit overnight.

Still, the glimmer of hope should be seen in the light of considerable macro headwinds for cryptos, including the near-certainty of US interest rates next month.

Stockhead on Friday had quoted three analysts about what might happen if Bitcoin broke under US$40,000. Two had warned it’d likely fall all the way down to the low 30s – or worse – while a third had suggested he might close his shorts and long it in the high 30s.

But that analyst, who tweets under the handle @charts_bitcoin, posted that he’d changed his mind when the drop occurred on Sunday.

“When looking at the PA [price action] and data in real-time as we did see a move down there… I wasn’t seeing strength from the bulls,” he wrote. “Plans change, and how you navigate those situations is what sets you apart.”

Market down 1.3%

Coingecko

Even with the midday bounce, the market was still down 1.3 per cent to US$1.87 trillion, according to Coingecko.

Ethereum was changing hands for US$2,724, down 0.7 per cent in the past 24 hours, but up 3.3 per cent in the past hour.

Among top 100 coins, Radix was the biggest loser, falling 11.7 per cent to US13.4c, while Quant was the biggest gainer, rising 7.9 per cent to US$118.

Read MoreCryptocurrency

You might be interested in