Bitcoin has broken past a key technical level that's signaling it could surge another 22% to near record highs, analyst says

• Bitcoin could surge 22% after breaking above a key technical level, Fairlead Strategies' Katie Stockton said.
• Stockton sees bitcoin testing its "final" resistance at about $64,900, just below its record high.
• Bitcoin has surged 26% year to date and is up 126% over the past year.

The rally in bitcoin could have further room to run after a key technical breakout occurred on Sunday, said Katie Stockton, the founder of Fairlead Strategies.

Stockton told clients in a note on Monday that bitcoin confirmed its breakout above the $48,600 resistance level, in what is "an intermediate-term bullish development on its chart."

Bitcoin jumped by 3.2% on Monday, to $53,393, representing its highest level since November 2021. The crypto token is up 26% year to date and up 126% over the past year.

While short-term technical indicators suggest there could be a period of consolidation in the days ahead, the uptrend should ultimately continue to its near-term and "final" resistance levels of $56,400 and $64,900, respectively, Stockton said.

"Bitcoin has positive long-term momentum per our trend-following indicators, and there are no overbought 'sell' signals on the monthly chart," Stockton said in a note last week.

A bitcoin surge to $64,900 would represent potential upside of 22% from current levels and would put the cryptocurrency just a few thousand dollars below its record high of about $69,000, reached in November 2021.

Recent catalysts affecting the price of bitcoin include the launch last month of several spot bitcoin ETFs, which have already attracted billions of dollars in assets.

Looking ahead, bitcoin investors are focused on the halving event, scheduled to occur in April. The halving event will cut miners' bitcoin reward in half, further limiting the supply of new minted bitcoins.

Halving events in 2020, 2016, and 2012 preceded massive rallies in the cryptocurrency.

One crypto investor who believes there's still plenty of upside left in bitcoin is Michael Saylor, the chairman of MicroStrategy.

Saylor said in a post on X on Monday that MicroStrategy acquired an additional 3,000 bitcoins for about $155 million, adding that the company now owns 193,000 bitcoins acquired at an average price of $31,544. The position is now worth more than $10 billion, with about $4 billion in unrealized gains.