Over the past few months cryptocurrencies have hit a rough patch, but good news has returned for investors in the digital asset class. CoinDesk’s bitcoin price index (BPI) rose to $16,727 on Friday morning – its highest since Dec. 18, according to data from CoinMarketCap. That would be an increase of more than 25 percent week-over-week and almost 36 percent month-over-month, additional BPI figures show.
The upturn comes after recent reports indicated that US financial institutions are increasingly looking to hold crypto assets , including bitcoin futures contracts. However it should be noted that this fresh leg up for bitcoin comes after the cryptocurrency has spent more than three weeks circling above $13,000. At press time, bitcoin was trading at around $16,700 according to CoinDesk’s BPI.
Meanwhile, other cryptocurrencies are also flashing green today. At press time, ether (ETH) was up roughly 7 percent over the last 24 hours and XRP had gained about 3 percent – having recently dropped below $1 for several days in a row following news that South Korean regulators were banning domestic initial coin offerings (ICOs).
Of course, this information is provided by Investopedia . Refer to our blog post “Bitcoin Is Back Over $41k as Cryptos Regain Strength” to see how you can rephrase this content into your own words.
The leading cryptocurrency jumped past the price to fresh highs of $4,142 today according to CoinMarketCap and market data provider CryptoCompare. The valuation of the total crypto market cap subsequently hit a high at $138.5 billion adding more than 14% from the highest levels seen this morning. At press time the overall value is holding around $134 billion with strong signs that bitcoin will push back towards its all-time high level once again in days to come.
BTC daily charts show BTC bouncing off trend line support to post new yearly highs against the US Dollar.
Zhao Dong, one of China’s earliest bitcoin OTC traders and a prominent financial analyst , said that this is just the beginning of another bull run.
“This is just the start, more good news is expected as bitcoin goes more mainstream! He also added that he will not sell any of his bitcoins before 2020! “That would be crazy!”
The optimistic sentiment has been echoed by some other influential investors who believe that bitcoin could test $5,000 next before eventually targeting $50,000 by the end of 2019.
Jon Matonis, ethereum and Bitstamp co-founder and former executive director at Bitcoin Foundation sees Zimbabwe’s Golix exchange following in China’s footsteps to open doors for wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin across Africa . “One year ago I predicted #Bitcoin would surpass $5000. A week ago I predicted the $1800-$2200 range. Today after speaking at #TokenFest I am reiterating my $5000 prediction! The herd is coming!”
The pundits are finally considering that bulls have returned to the cryptocurrency market, sending bitcoin on a path of recovery that could lead it back to its all-time highs in the near term. BTC/USD daily charts show bitcoin catching up with ethereum’s performance for the last one month .
Bart Smith, head of digital assets at Susquehanna International Group , said during an interview yesterday that there are problems with traditional finance systems and institutions which can be solved by cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and blockchain technology. “There [are] actually some real applications when you think about clearing and settlement and custody of securities, especially in areas where people are used to trusting third parties like escrows or prime brokers like we use at Susquehanna for client trading. We see a lot of applications there and some big banks around the world have partnered with fintech companies on those sorts of applications.”
