The price of the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin ($BTC) had its best month of January in a decade this January, as it moved up around 40% from its lowest levels. It’s the best month since $BTC saw a 40% rally in October 2021.

According to market data, the price of the flagship cryptocurrency is currently sitting at around $23,083, after finishing the month of January at around $23,000, its highest level since August of last year.

Christopher Newhouse, an options trader at cryptocurrency market maker GSR, was quoted by Yahoo Finance saying that the market started January with “some explosive price action the week of December’s CPI [Consumer Price Index] print. Per the analyst, buyer side demand from institutional investors returned in the first two weeks of the year, leading to short seller liquidations.

In the 12 days that followed December’s inflation report, released on January 12, around $1.3 billion worth of short positions against the flagship cryptocurrency were liquidated, meaning around $611 million as net of long positions. Over the past week, the news outlet notes, the opposite has been happening, with $331 million in long positions liquidated.

According to analysts, Bitcoin’s next leg could come after the Federal Reserve’s monthly rate hike decision this week, with the central bank being expected to raise rates by 25 basis points as it reins in inflation.

As CryptoGlobe reported, top cryptocurrency analyst Peter Brandt, who has gained a large following on social media after accurately in January 2018 Bitcoin’s 84% decline throughout that year, has said $BTC recently flashed an “extremely rare” bullish signal.

In January, Bitcoin’s  Fear & Greed Index, which serves as an aggregate for investor confidence and attitude towards the market, rose to “greed” for the first time in nearly a year.

The index, which utilizes multiple sources, including social media, to produce a relative number that reflects investor sentiment, has risen from 6 when BTC dropped below $18,000 last year. Per the index, behavior in the cryptocurrency market is “very emotional” and people “ get greedy when the market is rising which results in FOMO (Fear of missing out).”

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