Bitcoin 

BTC

$17,438

 showed signs of wanting higher levels still on March 22 as Wall Street trading saw a return above $43,000.

Terra co-founder: 'Most of' $3 billion still unpurchased

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it continued its newly confident stride to three-week highs.

The pair had already gained thanks to encouraging macro signs from China, but it was news from within that really set the pace on the day.

In a Twitter Spaces conversation with infamous Bitcoin pundit Udi Wertheimer, Do Kwon, co-founder of Blockchain protocol Terra, revealed that he planned to back his new TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin with BTC in addition to Terra's

LUNA

$1.55

token.

"Haven't been following up with the exact numbers 'cause transactions we generally do this over OTC, but the current clip that we have to buy big coin is about $3 billion and will will add to that," he told Wertheimer about Terra's BTC acquisition plans.

"But out of that 3 billion, most of it we haven't bought yet."

Those comments set the market alight as word spread, as sleuths eyed $125 million in Tether 

USDT

$1.00

, seemingly tied to Terra already on the move.

A $3 billion purchase would equate to around 69,850 BTC at current prices. That would make Terra a larger Bitcoin holder than every corporate investor except MicroStrategy, with its 125,051 BTC stash, data from monitoring resource Bitcoin Treasuries reveals.

"I said more than I shoulda," Kwon conceded at the weekend after the conversation.

Reacting, meanwhile, Luke Martin, host of the WAGMI podcast, argued that the Terra's was a "narrative worth paying attention to."

Sky-high BTC price forecasts evade social media

The mood among Bitcoin traders was thus buoyant March 22, with all-out bullishness still hard to come by following months of relentless sideways price action.

Related: Bitcoin hash rate may see ‘small capitulation’ with difficulty set for new all-time high

"If Bitcoin can sustain those levels, it seems to me that we're getting a period of some relief rallies across markets. Would be good," Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe concluded.

Fellow trader Anbessa, meanwhile, delivered the immediate outlook for BTC/USD based on a bullish or bearish next reaction.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on the push to over $43,300, liquidating a significant raft of short positions.