Bitcoin surges 6% to top $20,000, its highest level in more than a week, even as stocks hit 2022 lows

Bitcoin topped $20,000 connected Tuesday, hitting its highest level successful the much than a week, but is inactive struggling to interruption retired of its choky trading range.

The world's largest cryptocurrency was much than 6% higher astatine $20,193.90 astatine astir 7:14 a.m. ET, according to information from CoinDesk.

Bitcoin's rally lifted the broader cryptocurrency market. Ether was up astir 6% astatine $1,391.30.

Still, bitcoin has struggled for direction, trading betwixt $18,000 and $25,000 since mid-June aft a clang saw astir $2 trillion wiped disconnected the full crypto marketplace since its highest successful November.

That marketplace diminution was driven by involvement complaint rises from cardinal banks aimed a controlling rampant ostentation arsenic good arsenic a wave of bankruptcies and insolvency issues that filtered done the crypto industry.

Crypto investors person been watching monetary argumentation due to the fact that integer currencies person been intimately correlated to U.S. banal markets this year. Higher involvement rates person enactment unit connected the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq, which has filtered done different risky assets including cryptocurrencies.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's 0.75 percent constituent complaint hike past week marked a "major event" for crypto markets, according to Vijay Ayyar, vice president of firm improvement and planetary astatine crypto speech Luno.

"This was broadly successful enactment with marketplace expectations and hence, we've seen a batch of that sentiment priced in," Ayyar said.

Interestingly, bitcoin's rally, which began connected Monday, happened contempt a autumn successful U.S. stocks with the S&P 500 closing astatine its lowest level of 2022. Stock futures roseate connected Tuesday. So, determination are signs that possibly the correlation betwixt crypto and stocks could beryllium weakening.

Meanwhile, investors are watching the U.S. dollar closely. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a handbasket of currencies, is up much than 18% this year. Bitcoin moves inversely to the dollar, truthful a beardown greenback is antagonistic for bitcoin. However, Ayyar said that the dollar scale could beryllium nearing its apical which would people a imaginable bottommost for bitcoin. That could beryllium a crushed down bitcoin's surge.

"Traders hence mightiness besides beryllium positioning themselves accordingly," Ayyar said.