Bitcoin (BTC) Bull Run, Shiba Inu (SHIB) Price Explosion, and More: Bits Recap March 4

TL;DR

Bitcoin (BTC) nears $65,000, potentially starting a massive bull run influenced by the upcoming halving event that reduces mining rewards.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) quickly recovered with spectacular gains, becoming one of the top performers with a 180% weekly increase.
Ripple (XRP) is lagging with an 18% weekly increase, but analysts predict a significant surge, expecting it to catch up with bullish market trends.

BTC’s Impressive Performance

The last several days have been highly successful for Bitcoin (BTC), with its price nearing the $65,000 mark for the first time since November 2021. To put things into perspective, the rally in February represented the longest monthly green candle in the asset’s history, whereas the valuation is quite close to the all-time high registered at the end of 2021.

Despite the rapid increase, some experts and important technical indicators suggest this might be just the beginning of a massive bull run that could last in the following months. 

One upcoming element worth noting is the Bitcoin halving. The event, scheduled for April next month, will reduce the rate at which new BTC are mined. Currently, miners receive 6.25 BTC for successfully validating a new block on the blockchain, while the reward will be trimmed to 3.125 BTC.

Historically, the halving has been followed by an overall market boom. Those willing to learn more about the event, please check our dedicated video below:

Investors’ shift from exchanges to self-custody methods could also play a role. According to CryptoQuant, BTC exchange netflow has been predominantly negative in the last few weeks, with a huge red candle charted at the beginning of March. 

Holding assets in self-custody wallets reduces the immediate selling pressure.

SHIB Takes Center Stage

The popular meme coin – Shiba Inu – was lagging at the end of February when the crypto market, particularly Bitcoin, started booming. Nonetheless, it quickly caught up with the trend, recording spectacular gains in the past few days.

SHIB is currently among the best performers in the meme coin realm and the entire digital asset sector, with its value skyrocketing by 35% on a 24-hour scale and 180% weekly.

Those curious to find out some of the possible reasons behind Shiba Inu’s exponential rise and check the estimation of ChatGPT’s rival Perplexity about a further rally could read our article here. 

XRP Predictions

One cryptocurrency that appears to be lagging behind the biggest gainers is Ripple’s XRP. Its price is up “just” 18% on a weekly scale, currently trading at around $0.64 (per CoinGecko’s data).

However, multiple analysts remain optimistic that the asset will catch up with the bullish trends, expecting substantial increases.

The crypto enthusiast with thousands of followers – Dark Defender – maintained that XRP closed February above a critical resistance level, which signals a possible “monthly breakout.” The analyst predicted a price surge to almost $2 by July this year.

EGRAG CRYPTO agreed with the forecast, advising investors to “stay steady” since XRP seems poised for a “more aggressive and strong upward move” in the following months.