'Crypto winter is over,' says analyst as bitcoin tops $86,000: Chart of the Day

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is back. The token held above $86,000 on Tuesday after a stunning multi-session rally as investors went risk-on amid falling oil prices.

The surge has analysts pointing to the end of the token's cyclical "crypto winter."

"The BTC breakout is credible," Sean Farrell, head of digital assets, told Yahoo Finance on Monday. "I think the crypto winter is over, although that does not necessarily mean the path higher will be linear."

For now, momentum is on crypto's side, with bitcoin jumping more than 5% on Friday and another 6% on Monday.

"We believe crypto is in the early innings of a new bull market and we see few signs of overheating," wrote Compass Point analyst Ed Engle on Tuesday.

The move looks "like a combination of renewed ETF demand and a large short squeeze," said Nicolai Sondergaard, senior research analyst at Nansen, as traders betting against bitcoin are forced to buy it back, adding further fuel to the rally.

The token has recently broken solidly above its 50-day moving average as seen below on Yahoo Finance's AlphaSpace chart. Strategists see it as confirmation that the move is more than a bear-market relief rally.

Altcoins also surged after the Securities and Exchange Commission granted a five-year exemption last week for trading in certain tokenized stocks, boosting optimism about blockchain-based markets and tokens such as ether (ETH-USD) and Solana (SOL-USD).