Bitcoin hits $44K after Canada emergency powers accompany 6% BTC price increase

Bitcoin (BTC) opted for fresh upside on Feb. 15 as a trip to near $40,000 saw an abrupt change of direction. 

RSI prints classic bull signal

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD gaining swiftly overnight into Tuesday, going on to pass $44,000.

A classic relative strength index (RSI) breakout, this time on the lower 4-hour timeframe, preceded the move, which put the pair a full 6% higher versus Monday's lows.

#Bitcoin 4 Hour RSI broke out and MACD just had a Bullish Cross: pic.twitter.com/2bRVFeQsfX

"I do think these are the first signs of a trend break," popular Twitter account Phoenix commented in a fresh post on the day.

It added that reaching and holding $45,500 would be "absolutely key" for bulls, this marking last week's high.

The uptick appeared to have an external trigger. As part of the ongoing events in Canada's Freedom Convoy protests, the government announced that it would expand anti-money launding surveillance to cover crypto transactions.

"These changes cover all forms of transactions including digital assets and cryptocurrencies," deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference.

The protests had long been a topic of heated debate in Bitcoin and crypto circles in light of the highly controversial actions by crowdfunding platform GoFundMe and the subsequent hack of GiveSendGo, the alternative used to send donations to protest participants.

As with last month's mooted ban on crypto use by Russia, the effect on Bitcoin was ultimately anything but negative.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin services began to step up to offer continued support to the movement, among them the open-source BTCPay payment gateway.

Dear all, we got you covered, learn how to setup a crowdfund campaign while enjoying the mellow voice @pavlenex https://t.co/xLbaJSPrcz https://t.co/XDjwbKaSVD

"Use unstoppable money, then you can ignore all their commands and live free," Robert Breedlove, host of the What Is Money? podcast summarized.

Altcoins reawaken

More positive news came from the altcoin space, which on Monday had traded flat with almost no movement among major tokens.

Related: ‘Up only’ for BTC fundamentals — 5 things to watch in Bitcoin this week

That quickly changed as Bitcoin rose, with Ether (ETH) up nearly 8% at the time of writing.

Out of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap, similar gains were afforded to Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX).