Category Archives: Bitcoin

Bitcoin Active Supply Touches 3-Year High, But What Does it Imply? – Bitcoinist

When Bitcoins price fell sharply four weeks ago network activity dropped as investors began to put their coins into storage. This trend is reversing as the daily transaction number is once again increasing, and coins are on the move.

Glassnode has posted a chart of active Bitcoins that shows how the number moving across the network began to accelerate rapidly last August, only to level off last month. Now, this number is once again picking up.

Overall network activity is also once again increasing after a sharp drop in March, as seen in this chart from Blockchain.info:

The key takeaway from this information is that the flagship cryptocurrency is once again on the move. The changes in activity on the network may be relatively small, but they still demonstrate a shift away from hodling Bitcoins to using them.

In all likelihood, these increases are due to an uptick in trading, which will no doubt take place as prices rise. Many investors see the market recovery as an opportunity to make a quick profit from what is clearly a growing demand for cryptocurrency.

It is worth noting that the upcoming block halving is also providing a strong incentive to acquire Bitcoin now before the supply drops in mid-May. Also, fear of inflation and a continued global economic slowdown is driving many to put their assets into safe havens, for which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are ideally suited.

Whereas activity volume on the Bitcoin platform ebbs and flows from month to month, it is worth noting that the network continues to work as designed. Fees remain low, and confirmation times are relatively quick.

The network will begin to show signs of congestion at around 400,000 transactions per day, which is substantially more than the present number. This last happened in 2017, resulting in slow transactions and high fees. The Lightning Network now exists to help prevent such problems from ever happening again, yet needs more work to make it reliable and user friendly enough for mass use.

It is reasonable to assume that the number of active Bitcoins will continue to increase along with overall crypto adoption. Activity across the blockchain space is accelerating, much of which is taking place in areas such as decentralized finance and supply chain tracking. Present data clearly indicates that interest in this new asset class continues to grow.

IsBitcoin trading activity up? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Glassnode, Blockchain.com

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Bitcoin Active Supply Touches 3-Year High, But What Does it Imply? - Bitcoinist

How Has Bitcoin Performed During The Crisis? – Forbes

How has Bitcoin held up during the recent market stress? (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty ... [+] Images)

Some argue that Bitcoin is potentially a robust defensive asset, somewhat like gold. This is Bitcoins first major U.S. recession, when these sorts of assets can do well. How is it doing?

So far its performance has been mixed. Bitcoin has held up better than many stocks, but has fared less well than many other assets that can protect portfolios at times of market stress. For the year to date, Bitcoin has fallen 5%. Thats much better than the S&P 500 which is off 14% for the year. Nonetheless, other assets that can offer safe haven at a time of crisis have risen. For example gold is up 11% and a diversified portfolio of bonds is up 4%.

Hence if you view Bitcoin as a sophisticated digital form of gold, it hasnt quite played out that way during this crisis so far. However, we should note that we may still be early in seeing the full economic impact of COVID-19. As such its hard to reach a conclusive verdict until the economic impact has played out in full. Ideally, youd want to look across multiple economic cycles too, though since Bitcoin is a relatively young asset, this is not possible.

Furthermore, though on a near term view Bitcoin hasnt done what many other safe haven assets have done, it is of course noteworthy that on a 5-year view Bitcoins return still dwarfs just about any other major asset class because Bitcoin has risen over 30-fold over that period.

So it doesnt appear that Bitcoin behaves as a safe haven asset at this point. Whereas high-quality bonds and gold have risen over the crisis, Bitcoin has not. Still, it is also somewhat early to reach that determination. Bitcoin has outperformed stocks by a substantial margin and potentially remains a less correlated assets, that still means it can potentially play a role in portfolios. That is to say, even though Bitcoin may not necessarily rise in times of crisis, it follows its own supply and demand drivers and that can be useful in managing risk. A similar example might be other commodities such as oil. In this crisis oil has had a massive decline as a price war has occurred in conjunction with the COVID-19 outbreak, but at other times of crisis oil has performed very well. Holding lots of different assets from stocks to Bitcoin to oil in portfolios can potentially smooth returns over time compared to holding individual assets in isolation.

Also, one role of Bitcoin is to potentially protect against the falling value of currencies such as the U.S. Dollar. Interestingly, so far this crisis, the U.S. dollar has risen quite strongly on a trade-weighted basis and is up around 8% for the year so far. That creates a headwind for Bitcoin when you are assessing its price in dollars. Indeed, though a future crisis could involve a weakening dollar, and that may bode well for Bitcoin, this crisis has definitely not played out that way so far.

So, we can say that so far in this recession, Bitcoin hasnt quite behaved as a safe-haven asset and there are probably better strategies to protect your portfolio. However, Bitcoin can still diversify portfolios to some degree, and that makes it potentially useful. Plus its still early to assess the performance of Bitcoin. For other major asset classes we have over a century of data across many economic scenarios, for Bitcoin we have a little over a decade.

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How Has Bitcoin Performed During The Crisis? - Forbes

More Profit-Taking? Bitcoin Price Sags 7% Ahead of Easter Weekend – CoinDesk

Major cryptocurrency markets fell 7 percent over the past 24 hours, with bitcoin (BTC) retreating below $7,000.

While traditional stocks saw modest gains during early trading hours Friday, the crypto market shed more than $13 billion over the past 24 hours, according to Nomics. Most large-cap cryptos fell more than 8 percent in that time period, with BTCs 6.8 percent dip being the only exception.

The sell-off appears to have begun early UTC Friday.

According to CoinDesks Bitcoin Price Index, the worlds oldest cryptocurrency fell from about $7,300 at 01:00 UTC Friday to just above $6,800 as of press time, losing nearly $500 over 14 hours.

Given some of the abruptness of the overnight move, it suggests that some larger holders were inclined to take profits at these relatively favorable prices, David Nuelle, managing director of Hehmeyer Trading + Investments, told CoinDesk. Other than that, I dont see anything that would precipitate the market move.

Still, Nuelle called bitcoins recovery from mid-March lows of roughly $4,100 pretty impressive.

With other markets closed and it being a U.S. holiday, the crypto markets are generally feeling less liquid, CMS Holdings Partner Bobby Cho told CoinDesk. I dont see this being an issue with crypto fundamentals, rather, short term market liquidity issues.

In contrast to the crypto markets, traditional stock markets capped largely positive weeks. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Index saw major gains in the last four days of trading (markets were closed Friday for the Easter holiday), despite the economic hit caused by record job losses.

The U.S. saw 10 percent of its workforce laid off over a three-week period as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. Jobless claims grew 6.6 million on Thursday, for a total of 16 million, according to CNBC.

Economies worldwide are bracing for an economic shock due to the pandemic. Germany and France are already seeing their economies slide into a recession, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Zack Seward contributed reporting.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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More Profit-Taking? Bitcoin Price Sags 7% Ahead of Easter Weekend - CoinDesk

Bitcoins Next Boom Has Already Begun – Forbes

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have returned to the spotlight in recent weeks, despite the bitcoin price crashing along with traditional markets last month.

Governments and central banks around the world have moved to flood the market with freshly-minted cash to fight the economic devastation wrought by the coronavirus pandemic just as bitcoin investors brace for a highly-anticipated supply cut.

Now, after courts in India reversed a near two-year effective bitcoin ban in March, bitcoin trading in the country is explodingpushed higher by a country-wide economic slump and a coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency interest in India is soaring amid economic stagnation and a nationwide ... [+] coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Bitcoin and crypto banking services platform Cashaa India saw its trading volume rocket by 800% in the two days after the ban on the country's banks facilitating cryptocurrency transactions was lifted.

"The platform also registered a volume of 600+ [bitcoin] in the first 24 hours," Cashaa chief executive Kumar Gaurav told bitcoin and crypto industry news site Coindesk.

India's bitcoin and crypto ban was originally brought in to calm over-eager investors who were at risk of losing money to the myriad of scams that plagued the market in 2017 and 2018. Indian crypto exchanges were adding up to 300,000 new customers every month before the crackdown, it's been reported.

Since the ban has been lifted, a survey carried out by peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace Paxful found three in every four people in India with some understanding of cryptocurrencies have invested in them.

"India has proved itself as a center for innovation, and were excited to see the growth and discoveries they will bring to the [bitcoin and crypto] industry," said Paxful chief executive Ray Youssef, adding: "India has a lot of potential in all aspects of growth."

As India struggles with record high unemployment, likely to be significantly worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, the survey also revealed people in India believe cryptocurrencies could spur job creation and economic activity.

India's national 21-day lockdown ends on April 14 but a number of state governments have urged prime minister Narendra Modi to extend itpotentially making the country's economic crisis more dangerous than the coronavirus pandemic itself.

A recent study found over half a billion people around the world could be pushed into poverty by the economic fallout from the spreading coronavirus pandemic.

Elsewhere, bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have seen a surge of interest around the world since the coronavirus crisis began, causing some traders and investors to recall bitcoin's epic 2017 rally.

In 2017, the bitcoin price climbed from under $1,000 per bitcoin at the beginning of the year to around $20,000 by December, largely driven by retail investors and so-called fear of missing out as early bitcoin adopters became overnight millionaires.

Some of the world's biggest bitcoin and crypto exchanges have reported an influx of new users since the coronavirus shutdowns started.

The bitcoin price has weathered the coronavirus storm more-or-less intact, up around 40% on this ... [+] time last year despite some wild swings over the last month.

Away from India's booming bitcoin interest and the coronavirus pandemic's economic crisis, bitcoin and crypto investors have a lot to feel bullish about.

"Almost every disruptive benefit of bitcoin is surfacing today: asset scarcity in a world of fiat dilution, self-sovereign capital ownership amidst government overreach of civil liberties, cross-border payment transfers during system outages and [fears of] contagious paper money [in] China," said Tom Lombardi, director at investment management company Wave Financial.

"All of this occurring on the heels of massive support and bitcoin application development from Fidelity, Square, Revolut, the highly anticipated Bakkt App, a subsidiary of ICE and the NYSE that's partnered with Starbucks, and India lifting the crypto trading ban."

A survey of major bitcoin investors showed most were upbeat at the beginning of the year, with the bitcoin price expected to soar to over $20,000 per bitcoin in 2020.

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Bitcoins Next Boom Has Already Begun - Forbes

This Could Be The Biggest Ever Month For Bitcoin And Crypto – Forbes

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors are gearing up for what could be their biggest month ever as the countdown to bitcoin's next halving begins.

This week, bitcoin offshoots bitcoin cash and bitcoin SV will also go through halvingswith the number of new tokens awarded to so-called cryptocurrency miners cut by halfand giving bitcoin and crypto traders some indication of what to expect for bitcoin itself in mid-May.

Bitcoin has seen a surge in interest over the last month as the spreading coronavirus crisis sees ... [+] governments and central banks unleash never-before-seen levels of quantitative easing and stimulus.

Bitcoin cash, which split from bitcoin back in 2017 amid a row over the size of bitcoin's block size, will see its reward for miners fall from 12.5 bitcoin cash tokens to 6.25 on April 8.

Later this week, bitcoin SV, a further fork of bitcoin cash, will go through a similar token halving.

The halvings this week could push bitcoin cash and bitcoin SV miners toward bitcoinsomething that could send the bitcoin price higher.

"There is a real risk that the hash rate might be temporarily halved on both the bitcoin SV and bitcoin cash networks until the bitcoin halving in May, unless the price of the coins or the transaction fees of the networks increase significantly relative to bitcoin," analysts at Arcane Research have found, warning this could weaken the bitcoin cash and bitcoin SV networks and leave them open to attack.

Bitcoin is set to see its coin reward to miners fall from 12.5 bitcoin per block to 6.25 on May 13, 35 days from now, with the cryptocurrency community already looking forward to what's expected to be one of the biggest ever events in crypto.

"As the third halving event to occur, there are expectations for what might come after, with history telling us that the bitcoin price will typically begin to rise significantly within the 12 months following a halvingsomething that can be simply put down to supply and demand," said Danny Scott, the chief executive of Isle of Man-based bitcoin and crypto exchange CoinCorner, adding he expects the bitcoin price to surge back to its all-time high of around $20,000 per bitcoin this year.

There have already been two bitcoin halvings since bitcoin launched in 2009, one in 2012 and another in 2016. Bitcoin halvings are scheduled to continue roughly once every four years until the maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins has been generated by the networkwhich isn't expected to happen until well into the next century.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices have broadly climbed this week, somewhat in anticipation of the upcoming halvings, but the global coronavirus crisis and government's extraordinary lockdown measures have dominated traditional and crypto markets.

Bitcoin and its forks' upcoming halvings puts them directly at odds with the massive stimulus measures and quantitative easing unleashed by the U.S. government, the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world to spur economic activity as countries shut down to try to contain the coronavirus COVID-19.

Bitcoin's halving has "recently been dubbed the 'quantitative hardening,'" according to Scott, with CoinCorner reporting that March was its busiest trading month in two years.

The bitcoin price has climbed this week after a massive coronavirus-induced sell-off last month.

Some have suggested surging bitcoin demand could result in a bull run to rival bitcoin's epic 2017 rally that saw the bitcoin price climb from under $1,000 to around $20,000 in less than 12 months.

Other bitcoin and crypto exchanges have reported a similar uptick in activity over the last month with year-on-year U.S. registrations for London-based bitcoin and crypto specialist broker eToro soaring 221% in March.

"People are coming to us to invest in crypto-assets so we are still very bullish on its long-term potential," said Guy Hirsch, eToro's U.S. managing director, adding: "There is a growing consensus that due to the Fed announcing unlimited quantitative easing, investors could soon be looking to bitcoin as an inflation hedge against a depreciating dollar."

Other bitcoin and crypto market watchers are similarly upbeat, betting on bitcoin as a "store of value" due to its "scarcity."

"Whilst halving events have previously generated major bitcoin price runs, I believe that other key drivers will have a more significant, longer-term impact on the price of the digital currency," said Nigel Green, the chief executive of financial advisory group deVere, pointing to central banks cutting interest rates to zero in an attempt to offset the economic turmoil wrought by the historic coronavirus pandemic.

"In this time of economic turbulence, the growing consensus that bitcoin is becoming a flight-to-safety asset has further strengthened," Green said.

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This Could Be The Biggest Ever Month For Bitcoin And Crypto - Forbes

Cryptocurrency Review: Bitcoin, Ether and ‘Digital Gold’ – CoinDesk

Will bitcoin (BTC) move beyond "digital gold"? Is ether (ETH) viable as money? In 24 charts, CoinDesk Research shows what happened to crypto assets in Q1 2020 and examines what may emerge in the future. Download our Q1 analysis here, and join us on April 15 for a webinar discussing our findings and other relevant cryptocurrency research.

The CoinDesk Quarterly Review provides research-based insights on how the narrative has changed for blue-chips such as bitcoin and ether. We look at which assets outperformed on returns, and how the participants in crypto markets are shifting in the wake of Q1s defining event, the March 12 plunge.

Bitcoins digital gold narrative grew up in a bull market in everything. Bitcoin as gold 2.0, a hedge against inflation and a safe haven in an eventual crash, was a meme investors readily understood.

Now, weve seen an economic crisis cause dislocation in crypto markets and push bitcoins price downward in tandem with stocks. Gold and Treasury bonds appeared to have failed to live up to safe haven expectations. If golds narrative is being debated, do we still know what digital gold means? At the very least, the events of the past month have put to rest the notion that bitcoin today can be a haven.

How March 12 shook crypto markets, and how it didn't

The crash shook participants in crypto markets. Open interest in bitcoin futures and perpetual swaps fell off a cliff in March. These markets are used by traders large and small to speculate on bitcoins price, and as a temporary hedge against positions in the spot market. Futures volume spiked and settled at a higher baseline, as it did in spot markets. The increased activity is taking place in a shrunken market. About $1.6 billion of traders positions were liquidated over two days in March. The sharks are eating each other in a smaller pool, as it were.

At the very least, the events of the past month have put to rest the notion that bitcoin today can be a haven.

Bitcoin's long-term holdings, however, remained unmoved. Hodlwaves use Bitcoin timestamps known as UTXOs to measure how long each bitcoin has been held. Tracking time between transactions is a useful measure of long-term buy-and-hold activity. That activity is consistent with bitcoins use case as digital gold, a putative store-of-value. Note that long-term holdings (180 days or more) did not change perceptibly during the March 12 crash. Balances held between 90 days and 180 days shifted abruptly. Were bitcoin sellers concentrated among three- to six-month holders? Or were exchange balances, which shifted on these dates, concentrated in that band?

Alternative user narratives: Return of payments?

Some of bitcoin's long-term holders are surely hoping in time it will prove itself as a haven or store of value. But events such as the March crash open the door to new narratives. The flagship crypto assets next meme will set the adoption curve for verifiably scarce digital assets. Will payments re-emerge as an avenue to adoption?

Since launch, the number of computers running the Lightning Network has increased on average 53 percent every quarter. Lightning is a layer two payments system built on top of the Bitcoin network. The value held within Lightning payment channels has also increased.

New importance for bitcoin and ethereum technical road maps

It's possible a new user adoption narrative will be something quite different from what long-term investors in bitcoin have contemplated to date. Will Bitcoin developers add capabilities like Schnorr signatures, with their privacy and programmability that lead to its adoption as digital financial infrastructure?

The technical road map emerges from Q1 2020 with increased importance for ethereum, as well. Ether evangelists have spread the meme ETH is money" in the belief that it has potential as the base currency of a decentralized, digital banking system, dubbed decentralized finance" or "DeFi." The failure of flagship DeFi systems during the March 12 crash have raised questions about that narrative. Now more than ever it seems to be dependent on a relatively uncertain road map for ETH 2.0, an improvement designed to allow more transaction throughput.

On March 12, total ETH locked in DeFi applications increased as expected, then crashed amid a crisis in DeFis programmatic governance. If ETH is money," wed expect to see the amount locked in DeFi and the ETH price grow in tandem, long-term. For the near term, a recovery to previous levels would indicate a restoration of confidence in DeFi systems.

The CoinDesk Quarterly Review lays out a Q1 analysis of what happened to crypto assets in the quarter. It begins to examine what will emerge now that the digital gold story has been shaken. Download it here, and join us April 15 for a webinar discussing our findings.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Cryptocurrency Review: Bitcoin, Ether and 'Digital Gold' - CoinDesk

Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Hanging In The Balance As Buyers Defend $6,800 Where To Next? – Coingape

Bitcoin is hanging in the balance as the cryptocurrency currently trades at support around the $6,800 level. It had previously been trading above $7,000 where it struggled to break above resistance at the $7,400 level.

Bitcoin dropped from $7,400 yesterday and fell back beneath $7,000 but managed to find the support at the $6,800 level. This price is an important level as it provided a strong level of resistance from the market during the late half of March 2020 and therefore is expected to provide strong support moving forward.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

BTC/USD Daily CHART SHORT TERM

Analyzing the daily chart above, we can clearly see Bitcoin resting at the support at around $6,800. It fell into support at the .382 Fibonacci Retracement level yesterday, priced at $6,765, but managed to close the day above the $6,800 level.

We can see how $6,800 had provided resistance for the market during both late-March and early April and therefore it is expected to provide strong support moving forward. However, a break beneath $6,800 could prove to be devastating for Bitcoin as it would unwind toward the $6,000 level.

Bitcoin remains bullish right now but is in strong danger of turning neutral if it drops beneath $6,800.

Support toward the downside is located at $6,800, $6,765, $6,500, $6,300, $6,100, and $6,000.

On the other hand, if the buyers climb higher, resistance lies at $7,000, $7,174, $7,400, $7,500, and $7,676.

Key Levels

Support:$6,800, $6,500, $6,100, $6,000, $5,911, $5,786, $5,636, $5,600, $5,500, $5,467 $5,200, $5,000, $4,800, $4,672, $4,577, $4,139, $4,000, $3,912, $3,500, $3,436.

Resistance: $7,000, $7,174, $7,400, $7,500, $7,676, $8,000, $8,073, $8,250, $8,461, $8,672, $8,979, $9,000, $9,100.

Summary

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Hanging In The Balance As Buyers Defend $6,800 - Where To Next?

Description

Bitcoin dropped by a small 1% today as the cryptocurrency continues to battle with the $6,800 level.The cryptocurrency rolled over yesterday to drop from the $7,400 level to reach the current support at $6,800.

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Yaz Sheikh

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Coin Gape

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Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Hanging In The Balance As Buyers Defend $6,800 Where To Next? - Coingape

Bitcoin Price Ignores $2.3T Fed Cash as Pundit Warns of Sucker Rally – Cointelegraph

Bitcoin (BTC) braved less volatile but choppy trading on April 9 as the United States Federal Reserve flooded markets with trillions in dollars.

Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360

Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets showed BTC/USD still keeping within a tight $400 corridor between $7,100 and $7,410 as the week continued.

A sudden dip to $7,110 formed the most volatile feature of the past 24 hours. At press time, Bitcoin traded at around $7,325.

Bitcoin 1-day price chart. Source: Coin360

The largest cryptocurrency appeared broadly unfazed by the announcement of a fresh stimulus package from the Fed worth $2.3 trillion.

In a press release, the central bank said that its aim was to support the economy as the U.S. coronavirus death toll reached 14,800.

Board Chair Jerome H. Powell said:

The Fed's role is to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity, and our actions today will help ensure that the eventual recovery is as vigorous as possible.

The cash injection comes just weeks after a giant $6 trillion liquidity tsunami from the Fed, a sum so large that it equals the entire U.S. GDP from 1990. Earlier on Thursday, Cointelegraph reported that U.S. national debt was at a historic high of $24 trillion.

While markets were also buoyed by the potential for a cut in oil production after Thursdays OPEC+ meeting, among Bitcoin analysts, the mood was overwhelmingly bearish.

Despite rising around 8% in a week, Bitcoin, like traditional markets, was unlikely to sustain its trajectory, Cointelegraph Markets Michal van de Poppe warned.

The price of $BTC is slowly grinding upwards, but volume is decreasing, he wrote in a Twitter post on Thursday.

The $6,900 shorters got stopped out & flipped long, while the $7,700-8,000 shorters are waiting. More and more people turning bullish, giving me indication that liquidity is beneath us. Lets see.

Popular commentator Looposhi was more damning, writing:

I just think it's cute how some of you about to burn their account over some textbook sh*t. Let me be very clear. THIS IS A #Bitcoin SUCKER RALLY!

Meanwhile, U.S. jobless claims totaled over 6 million for a second week, van de Poppe agreeing with the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, that coronavirus would create the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

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Bitcoin Price Ignores $2.3T Fed Cash as Pundit Warns of Sucker Rally - Cointelegraph

Why Bitcoin Analysts See This Dip As Incredible Opportunity To Buy – Bitcoinist

Todays Bitcoin price drop below USD $7k has taken some by surprise, yet it is causing little concern among analysts, In fact, the mood is optimistic, as most believe that the market will recover quickly, with the flagship crypto currency soon surging much higher.

Todays market dip has not caused a notable shift in Bitcoins general upward movement since mid-March. In fact, a look at the chart from CoinMarketCap shows that drops of $200-400 have taken place several times in the past few weeks, only to rebound relatively quickly. Thus, if the pattern is to hold Bitcoin would need to hover around $6,900 for a day or two before coming back up.

There are some analysts that seem to think that prices may remain low for a few days, yet most seem to think that the price will not go much lower, if at all. For example, Pierre has tweeted:

Although those that were hoping that the price would remain above $7k may be disappointed, the mood is that there is little concern for a major drop.

Analysts of all types remain very firm in their assertions that Bitcoin stands to gain significantly due to a range of upcoming events. For example, much discussed block reward halving will re-shape the market, making existing Bitcoins more valuable. It seems as if everyone agrees that this one simple change in the protocol will have a major market impact.

Also, fear continues to grow that the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue to devalue the Dollar in its attempt to alleviate the growing economic crisis. In fact, few now believe that the Fed will stop at just 2.3 trillion. Many point to the fact that this amount is a mere drop in the bucket when compared to other government liabilities such as the national debt and unfunded entitlements.

Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares, has tweeted:

The simple implication is that before long the government will be forced to print an exponentially greater amount of cash in order to pay for these programs. Such a move will cause much higher inflation, and all but certainly drive more Americans into crypto investment. Bitcoin would clearly benefit most.

Thus, there is a growing sense that Bitcoin presently sits at what could be a bargain-basement price. Should the current patterns continue, now is clearly the time to invest.

Do you think this current dip is a good Bitcoin buying opportunity? Add your thoughts below!

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @Melt_Dem @pierre_crypt0, BTC/USD chart by Tradingview

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Why Bitcoin Analysts See This Dip As Incredible Opportunity To Buy - Bitcoinist

This Bitcoin Challenger Is Suddenly Soaring And Fast Approaching Its All-Time High Price – Forbes

Bitcoin is struggling to hold on to its post-coronavirus crash gains but some smaller cryptocurrencies are soaring.

The bitcoin price has treaded water over the last 24-hour trading periodthough top 20 cryptocurrency chainlink as added some 3% over that time, according to the latest prices from major U.S.-based bitcoin and crypto exchange Coinbase.

Chainlink, an ethereum-powered cryptocurrency that trades under the name link, has added almost 50% to its price over the last week, soaring as global stock markets weigh a prolonged coronavirus-induced shutdown.

The bitcoin price has swung wildly over the last month, but some smaller cryptocurrencies have made ... [+] huge gains.

Chainlink, an ethereum token that powers a decentralized network designed to connect so-called smart contracts to external data sources, has rocketed by an eye-watering 500% over the last year.

The chainlink price reached its all-time high in late June of 2019, hitting $4.55 and up over 1800% from the start of 2019.

The chainlink price, now hovering around $3.30, is up some 150% since the mid-March historic coronavirus crisis crash.

The massive chainlink rally, which puts bitcoin's paltry 35% year-on-year gain into sharp perspective, has been led by by interest in the network from China but has been boosted recently by a partnership from crypto lending platform Celsius Network.

Meanwhile, the chainlink network is growing fast, with spikes of over 2,000 new addresses in a single day, according to the IntoTheBlock crypto analytics platform.

The chainlink price has added some 44% over the last week, beating out almost every other asset as ... [+] the coronavirus crisis rolls on.

"Chainlink has positioned itself as one of the top 15 cryptocurrency projects in the world with a current market cap of approximately $1.11 billion and reported trading volumes of around $720 million over 24 hours," wrote IntoTheBlock's Nicolas Contasti in a Medium post.

"Performance wise, [chainlink] was having an amazing early 2020 run just until COVID-19 hit world markets, reaching an all-time-high of around $4.95 on March 4, which would have meant a year-to-date performance of 178%."

Chainlink's recent gains have also been attributed to the world's largest bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance, working with chainlink developers on so-called decentralized finance products, and search giant Google using chainlink's blockchain to bridge legacy databases.

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This Bitcoin Challenger Is Suddenly Soaring And Fast Approaching Its All-Time High Price - Forbes