Bitcoin 'awaiting second leg of bull market' as BTC price hits $46K 3-month highs

Bitcoin (BTC) hit $46,000 on Aug. 9 as macro factors failed to dent enthusiasm after 18% weekly gains.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD trading above $45,500 at the time of writing on Aug. 9.

After reaching local highs overnight, Bitcoin saw a comedown as the new week began, but this quickly U-turned to produce a three-month peak of $46,090.

With a correction yet to kick in, analysts were firmly bullish on coming moves for BTC/USD. Among them was PlanB, creator of the stock-to-flow BTC price model.

“Bitcoin at $46K,” he summarized to Twitter followers, alongside a chart of BTC' price performance after each block subsidy halving event.

“We are 16 months after the halving (red line), awaiting the second leg of this bull market.”

Kraken growth lead Dan Held argued that the action was reminiscent of Bitcoin in 2013 when it saw a considerable comedown from one all-time high only to go on to hit a second, much larger peak in the same year.

“So far a correction doesn't exist for Bitcoin,” Cointelegraph contributor Michael van de Poppe added.

As Cointelegraph reported, concerns that the upcoming vote on a bill that could shake up tax requirements for cryptocurrency businesses in the United States failed to dampen the mood and appears to have acted as a catalyst for price gains.

Crypto markets likewise sidestepped a sudden dramatic dip for gold on Aug. 9, which briefly dipped to its lowest in four months.

“Bitcoin's journey to becoming Gold 2.0 has been beautiful,” Held said.

“It was planted during the '08 crisis and came of age during the Covid crisis. The crazy thing is, Bitcoin is just getting started.”

Analyst: Bitcoin is repairing "largest divergence" to fundamentals

Crossing over to on-chain fundamentals, it was a game of catch-up for BTC price, which still had a lot to do to match implied sentiment.

Related: No, Bitcoin isn’t entering a 2018-like bear cycle, new data suggests, as BTC targets $45K

In various posts on Aug. 9, analyst William Clemente highlighted the “largest divergence” between the two phenomena “playing out in real time.”

Based on the modeling of tops and bottoms, a target of $57,000 has emerged, he said, and should this successfully be reclaimed, $92,000 will be next.

“If that level is then reclaimed, would be targeting top price model which currently sits at $175K,” he added.

Moving averages that had evaded Bitcoin in recent weeks were suddenly flipped over the weekend, among them the $42,500 range high.