Cryptocurrencies rallied on Tuesday as funds flowed into the industry rapidly again. The biggest tokens were the biggest beneficiaries with Bitcoin (BTC +0.17%) climbing to near an all-time high.
As of 1:30 p.m. ET, Bitcoin had risen 5.6% in the past 24 hours to $72,950, Ethereum (ETH +0.14%) was up 6.8% to $2,676, and Dogecoin (DOGE +1.28%) had jumped 17.8% to $0.1778.
The whales are back
There were big buyers in the market, driven by the popular exchange Binance overnight. Quantitative traders have highlighted the inflow of Bitcoin buyers and that was boosted by $175 million in liquidations of short positions.
Volume doubled on Tuesday and Bitcoin broke through $70,000, which is considered a point of resistance for the token.
This continues a long run of inflows for the crypto industry with 47,000 Bitcoin being added to Bitcoin ETFs in the past two weeks alone.
Rate cuts and election hype
Investors are speculating on a couple of factors that could help crypto values in the future. First, the U.S. election is a week from today and no matter who wins it's likely a more friendly regulatory environment is on the horizon.
Bigger tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum aren't in a legal gray area, but many exchanges are and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made conflicting rulings about what's legal and what's not in crypto. It's possible a more friendly regulatory environment would lead to more innovation and crypto usage long-term.
Rate cuts could also be on the horizon and investors are trying to get out ahead of that potential policy change. Lower rates are seen as good for growth stocks and speculative assets, like Bitcoin.
It's also possible higher tariffs, which have been proposed, could lead to higher inflation. Bitcoin and Ethereum are seen as hedges to inflation, despite that thesis not holding in 2022 when crypto fell as inflation rose.
Add all of these trends together and traders are jumping into crypto today.
Elon Musk boost
Once again, Elon Musk is being credited for the jump in the value of Dogecoin. He has been on the campaign trail with former President Donald Trump and has talked about running what he calls the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE). The tie between Musk and the Dogecoin token has been running for years and he has made nods like this to the token before.
While Musk may be a fan of Dogecoin, he doesn't have anything to do with its operations and this is still a meme coin that only has value as long as the meme does.
A speculative boost for crypto
While the crypto move today is big, it's not driven by anything more than trading dynamics based on short-term speculation. And until we know more about the use cases for crypto growing or regulatory changes in the U.S. or around the world I don't think it's a buy sign for investors.
Valuations for growth stocks, which are correlated with crypto, have gotten to extremely high levels and could lead to a fall when reality hits. That's why I'm not a buyer of this move today.
