Bitcoin has hit a local high of $44k, according to Bitpush Terminal data, and is in bullish territory being above the 50-day and 100-day moving averages. The bullishness around Bitcoin and its recent push towards $44k could be a direct result of rumors circulating suggesting that Russia could accept BTC for energy exports in the future. 

The King of Crypto is back after rising above $44k moments ago, which was last witnessed at the beginning of this month. John P. Njui, crypto journalist notes the bullish momentum could stall out as the daily MFI and RSI are in rather overbought territory at values of 71 and 62 respectively. 

On the other hand, Bitcoin might have a chance of hitting the 200-day moving average at about $48k in the coming days. 

CTO Larsson, a key technical industry advisor and creator of the Larsson line, suggests that BTC is making a run at an ascending triangle breakout, in a tweet on Thursday. 

To understand this surge in BTC’s price, we have to look at Russian rumors as a possible cause. 

Pavel Zavalny, Chairman of the Committee of State Duma of the Russian Federation on Energy,  mentioned Bitcoin as an payment option for countries still interested in buying Russian energy at a press conference. 

"If they want to buy, let them pay either in hard currency, and this is gold for us, or pay as it is convenient for us," said Pavel Zavalny, according to a translation of his comments. "The set of currencies can be different and this is normal practice, you can also trade bitcoins.” 

This comes in response to economic sanctions that are limiting virtually all trade with Russia and after seeing millions of dollars in donations go to Ukraine in the form of cryptocurrency. 

At the time of writing, there have been no confirmations of Russia actually accepting cryptocurrency, but the possibility is still very real. If it does happen, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will receive serious scrutiny after US legislators have already raised concerns of BTC being used by Russia to circumvent trading sanctions. 

This announcement comes a week after former BitMex CEO, Arthur Hayes, predicted Bitcoin to eventually go up to $1 million after the sanctions on Russia. 

Author: Tyler Irvin