Bitcoin Jumps 2%, Ignoring DXY's Rise to 10-Month High; XRP Eyes Death Cross

Bitcoin rose during the early U.S. trading hours, ignoring the continued rally in the greenback as spot buyers shook out bearish derivative bets.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value rose 2% to $26,750 even as the U.S. dollar index, which gauges the greenback's value against the major currencies, reached a fresh 10-month high of 106.48. A rise in the dollar index usually has a bearish impact on risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

"Bitcoin's move higher was set in motion by the spot market buyers," pseudonymous crypto trader and analyst Skew (@52kskew on X) told CoinDesk.

"That kicked off market buying and a short squeeze or bears covering their bearish futures bets, which pushed prices further higher," Skew added.

Data tracked by Coinalyze show the early rise from $26,000 was accompanied by an uptick in the spot market cumulative volume delta (CVD), a sign of net capital inflows or net buying in the spot market. Later, the CVD in the stablecoin-margined and coin-margined futures contracts led the market higher.

ETH, XRP and other major cryptocurrencies tracked bitcoin higher, with XRP gaining 1% despite the impending death cross.

The ominous-sounding technical analysis pattern occurs when the 50-day simple moving average of prices dips below the 200-day SMA, signaling a long-term bearish shift in momentum.

XRP's impending death cross is consistent with similar patterns in recent weeks in bitcoin and ether. These SMA-based patterns are lagging indicators and often trap sellers on the wrong side of the market. For instance, bitcoin's downward momentum ran out of steam below $25,000 after seeing a death cross on Sept. 11.