Bitcoin Retakes $57K, but Potential Positive Catalysts Are 'Sparse,' Says NYDIG

The world's largest crypto is putting in a nice rebound on Monday after an ugly start to September that saw the price fall below $53,000 at one point last Friday.

Bitcoin BTC$108,121.55 at press time was trading just above $57,000, up 5% over the past 24 hours and outperforming the broader market gauge CoinDesk 20 Index's 4.2% advance. Ether ETH$3,942.26 continues to struggle relative to the bitcoin and the broader market, ahead 3% to $2,341.

The crypto gains are coming alongside an advance for U.S. stocks, which also took a drubbing last week. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both gained 1.15% on Monday.

Even with the big bounce today, bitcoin remains lower by about 3% for September and down more than 20% since hitting a record high above $73,000 in March.

"Unfortunately, potential upcoming near-term catalysts for bitcoin are sparse at the moment," wrote Greg Cipolaro, global head of research at NYDIG, in his weekly update. As has been pointed out by others, Cipolaro noted August and September have proven to be notoriously weak months for bitcoin prices. The good news, he reminds, is that October and the fourth quarter in general have tended to be good for price action.

The fourth quarter remains a few weeks off, and between now and then, said Cipolaro, bitcoin bulls might only be able to look to factors outside of crypto for positive catalysts. Among them would be macro news like employment, inflation and Federal Reserve policies. There's also the November presidential election, and while candidate Donald Trump has made very friendly overtures to crypto, far less is known about Kamala Harris' position.

"We won’t guess as to which candidate might win the election, but November might be a pivotal moment for the industry," concluded Cipolaro. "Until that time, however, bitcoin might be at the whims of the broader market backdrop."