Bitcoin is increasingly coiled below $36,000, supported by consistent buying activity during U.S. hours.
LINK and MATIC gained 10%, most among large-cap altcoins.
Bitcoin's "Santa Claus rally" could start any moment amid accommodating macro picture, Matrixport said.

Bitcoin [BTC] was closing in on the $36,000 key level Wednesday as bulls and bears continued their tug of war at that key level.

After quickly giving back a chunk of its short squeeze-related gains on Tuesday, bitcoin took another shot at the $36,000 level early Wednesday afternoon on what appeared to be a renewed bout of spot ETF optimism. At press time, the crypto had again pulled back to just above $35,500, up just modestly over the past 24 hours.

Ethereum scaling network Polygon's native crypto [MATIC] and oracle network Chainlink's token [LINK] lead gains in altcoins, surging 10%-11% over the same time period.

LINK attracted steady institutional buy flows over the past week, institution-focused trading platform FalconX noted Wednesday. MATIC perhaps benefitted from an early Wednesday news that network developer firm Polygon Labs will work with Near Foundation on a zero-knowledge tech-powered tool for blockchain interoperability. The token is now up roughly 27% since late October's smart contract activation of the upcoming POL ecosystem token, part of a comprehensive network upgrade called Polygon 2.0.

The CoinDesk Market Index [CMI], a broad basket of nearly 200 digital assets, was up 0.3% during the day.

Bitcoin (BTC) price could break out on declining inflation

Crypto investment services firm Matrixport noted in a Wednesday report that bitcoin's breakout above $36,000 is "imminent," fueled by consistent BTC purchases during U.S. trading hours. This is coupled with a more accommodating macroeconomic environment for risk assets, with dovish Federal Reserve messaging, retreating bond yields and the U.S. Treasury Department slowing the pace of long-term debt issuance, the firm added.

Bitcoin's price is coiled at around $35,500 (Matrixport)

To the extent it shows a continued slowdown in inflation, next week's U.S. consumer price index (CPI) report might provide the spark for a breakout, suggested Matrixport

"The Santa Claus rally could start at any moment," said Matrixport. "With a steady increase in buyers during U.S. trading hours and an ongoing attempt for bitcoin to break out, we could see prices rallying into the end of the month and year."

"A break above $36,000 could propel BTC toward our next technical resistance level at $40,000, potentially reaching $45,000 by the end of 2023," the group added.

Market Wrap Markets Bitcoin Polygon Chainlink Matrixport

Krisztian Sandor

Krisztian Sandor recently graduated from NYU's business and economic reporter program as a Fulbright fellow and worked with Reuters and Forbes previously. Originally from Budapest, Hungary, he is now based in New York. He holds BTC and ETH.