Cryptocurrency Market Update: BTC/USD settles above $9,300, bulls target at $9,600

• Grayscale has been buying 1.5 times the amount of Bitcoins mined.
• The bullish trend is gaining traction after a period of consolidation.

The cryptocurrency investment company Grayscale ramped up its Bitcoin purchases, according to the data, provided by the Independent researcher Kevin Rooke. The expert found out that since the halving company has been buying BTC at a rate equivalent to 150% of the newly-minted BTC. Only 12,337 Bitcoins have been mined after the reduction of the block reward, while the Bitcoin Investment Trust added 18,910 BTC.

The industry players believe it is a sign that the demand exceeds the supply. Thus, the head of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, commented: 

There isn't enough new supply to go around, even for just one guy.

Earlier the FXStreet reported that an average weekly investment into Grayscale Bitcoin Trust reached $29.9 million in the first quarter of 2020, which is an 800% increase on a year-on-year basis.

Top-3 cryptocurrencies price updates

Bitcoin (BTC) moved above to $9,300 and hit the intraday high at $9,454. By press time, the coin retreated to $9,400. The first digital coin has gained over 2.5% both on a day-to-day basis and since the beginning of Thursday. The next critical resistance is created by $9,500-$9,600 area. This barrier stopped the upside momentum during the previous recovery attempt. The support is created by $9,000. 

Ethereum tested the intraday high of $210.93 during early US hours on Thursday, but retreated to $209.50 by the time of writing. The second-largest digital asset has gained 1.5% higher from this time on Wednesday and stayed unchanged since the beginning of the day. The price needs to gain ground above $210.00 to further improve the short-term technical picture and allow for the recovery above $215.00. The critical support is created by $200.00.

XRP/USD is hovering in the middle of $0.2000-$0.1900 range amid bearish momentum on the short-term time frame.  The recovery attempt above the upper border of the range failed, which brings its lower line back into focus. At the time of writing, XRP/USD is changing hands at $0.1970.
 

---