Bitcoin getting close to $43k, further rally expected

Bitcoin (BTC) gained bullish momentum after witnessing a local low of around $40,500 on Dec. 18. Key indicator suggests further bullish momentum.

BTC is up by 4.3% in the past 24 hours and is trading at $42,930 at the time of writing. The asset’s market cap currently stands at over $840 billion with a daily trading volume of $26 billion.

According to data provided by the market intelligence platform Santiment, Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) turned bullish, hovering around the 50 mark. For BTC to break the $45,000 zone, its RSI needs to stay below 65.

Moreover, as Bitcoin gains bullish momentum, the asset’s whale activity also surged dramatically. Per Santiment, the number of whale transactions consisting of at least $100,000 worth of BTC recorded a 114% rally over the past 24 hours — rising from 6,153 to 13,153 unique transactions in a day.

Bitcoin’s total open interest (OI) registered a slight increase over the past day. According to Santiment, BTC’s total OI rose from $7.07 billion to $7.31 billion. 

Data shows that Bitcoin’s Binance funding rate suggests a slight dominance of long-position holders — currently standing at 0.015%. However, the exact amounts of long and short positions are still not clear.

According to a recent report, a crypto analyst, known as Crypto Banter on YouTube, believes that a bigger Bitcoin dump could be on the way. He claims that the market looks unsustainable due to high leverage rates, overhyping memecoins and airdrops. 

However, the possibility of Bitcoin ETF approvals in the U.S. could suggest a bullish sign as trillion-dollar companies are expected to join the industry.