Optimism returned to the cryptocurrency markets on Friday with a general upturn in prices. Enthusiastic investors flocked back to Bitcoin (



BTC



) and a host of alternative cryptocurrencies. This renewed interest coincides with a decrease in outflows from the Bitcoin spot ETF, which signals what some analysts consider a turning point from the recent downward trend.

While stocks displayed mixed performance for the week, the December PCE index, a key inflation metric favored by the Federal Reserve, showed an increase less than 3% over the year. This has encouraged a positive shift in investor sentiment regarding potential interest rate reductions as soon as March. However, it had a limited impact on lifting major stock indices.

The market closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly higher at a 0.16% gain, while both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices dipped with marginal losses of 0.07% and 0.36%, respectively.

TradingView data indicates that Bitcoin maintained stability near the $40,000 mark during the early hours of Friday. However, bullish activity later pushed its value to peak at $42,255 by afternoon, positioning BTC squarely within the trading range established since the beginning of December. Currently, Bitcoin is valued at $41,900, posting a 5.2% gain over 24 hours.

BTC/USD





Chart by TradingView

Michaël van de Poppe of MN Trading expressed his belief that the upward move beyond $40,000 could signal the end to Bitcoin’s corrective phase.

I’ve not posted an update on this chart for

#Bitcoin

in a while.

It’s going pretty well as planned.

Now, consolidation will likely occur before continuing to new all-time highs.

pic.twitter.com/riAx7Tp9FQ

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL)

January 26, 2024

Despite van de Poppe’s cautious optimism for steady future growth, he does not foresee any significant rallies coming soon, and anticipates a period of sideways trading in the upcoming days and weeks.

Altcoins climb higher

Recovery was in the air for altcoins, with a notably positive performance from almost all major tokens in the top 200 by market capitalization.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

SATS (1000SATS) took the lead with a surge of 21.45%, Conflux (CFX) ascended by 20.8%, and Sui (SUI) enhanced its value by 19.5%. On the flip side, dogwifhat (WIF) witnessed the largest downturn of 10.5%, followed by Pyth Network (PYTH) which slid by 3.8%, and Maker (MKR) which retreated by 2.9%.

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies now stands at $1.61 trillion, with Bitcoin’s market dominance at 51%.