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

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

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 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), 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.