Thursday Thoughts: Bitcoin Hits $29,000 Briefly
Good morning. It’s New Year’s eve, and we’re at a new all-time high. To those still reading websites during the holidays, this one’s for you. Welcome to Thursday Thoughts, part of our new series: BitPinas Daily. We will look at the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the major cryptocurrencies. Crypto is global, but sometimes news…
Good morning. It’s New Year’s eve, and we’re at a new all-time high. To those still reading websites during the holidays, this one’s for you.
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts, part of our new series: BitPinas Daily. We will look at the price of Bitcoin, Ethereum and the major cryptocurrencies. Crypto is global, but sometimes news that matters happens while we sleep. So we bring to you what’s happening in our space here and abroad.
Market Price as of December 31, 2020:
| Bitcoin | $28,837 | 5.02% |
| Ethereum | $752.863 | 2.43% |
| Tether | $1.00 | 0.0% |
| XRP | $0.21 | -4.5% |
| Litecoin | $129.24 | 0.24% |
| SLP | $0.016 | -16% |
Bitcoin closed December 30, 2020, at $28,837 per BTC. We’re up 23% in the last 7 days and 300% since the year began. This is a new all-time high.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization stands today at $535,011,631,043 which is 69.56% of the entire cryptocurrency market.
On the table above, there’s the cryptocurrency SLP. If you wonder what that is, check out this article: Playing Axie Infinity vs Minimum Basic Salary in the Philippines.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin hits $29K for first time ever, raising HODLer hopes for $30K by New Year’s
Bitcoin prices hit a high of $29,280.05 before dropping back to $29,231.01, up 5.28% in the last 24 hours. The price of bitcoin (BTC, +5.38%) has now risen more than 300% year to date and no doubt put visions of $30,000 in the minds of holders of the cryptocurrency, colloquially known as “HODLers.” (Kevin Reynolds, Coindesk)
After institutional investors hoard, just 22% of Bitcoin is left for traders
The report notes that long-term investors holding the cryptocurrency removes it from circulation. 2020 has been the year big companies have entered the crypto space—especially business intelligence firm MicroStrategy—and they are buying up Bitcoin and holding it as a long-term investment.
These companies aren’t likely to sell, according to Glassnode, and this is causing the current bull market. In fact, this year alone, “more than 1 million BTC has become illiquid,” the report says. (Matthew Di Salvo, Decrypt)
Bitfinex CTO: Bitcoin dominance is inevitable
In a market commentary by Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, Bitcoin dominance is inevitable following a tumultuous year when the dominant crypto’s price surged from under $4,000 in March to above $28,000 today.
“While a growing institutional presence has been part of the narrative of the current bull run, we may see increased retail interest in Bitcoin as a form of digital gold. This could also bolster interest in the many innovative projects coming to fruition within the digital token space.”
Paolo Ardoino, CTO, BitFinex
Ripple
Coinbase sued over XRP sale
A new lawsuit in California federal court alleges that Coinbase violated the state’s unfair competition laws by making a commission from the sale of Ripple’s XRP. Ripple was recently sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly issuing XRP as an unregistered securities offering. (Aislinn Keely, The Block)
Binance.US announces that it will delist XRP in mid-January
Effective Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 10am EST, XRP will be delisted from Binance.US. XRP trading and deposits will be suspended. (Binance.US)
FinCEN
Heavy hitters of crypto call for users to comment on proposed FinCEN wallet rule
Crypto exchange Coinbase and the foundation behind Monero are the latest firms to join in calling for crypto users to share their thoughts on the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s new rules. In a blog post today, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the proposal would represent “too big of an intrusion” on users’ privacy, stating that crypto exchanges would need to collect and share names and addresses for anyone sending or receiving more than $3,000 in crypto in a single transaction. The CEO called on users to submit their thoughts to FinCEN before Jan. 4 when comments would be closed. (Turner Wright, Cointelegraph)
What else is happening
- Cryptocurrency XRP Is in free fall With exchanges delisting coin. (Olga Kharif, Bloomberg)
- Number of addresses holding Ethereum hits new all-time high. (Matthew Di Salvo, Decrypt)
- Grayscale reportedly dumps massive stakes in XRP, XLM (Sam Bourgi, Cointelegraph)
This article is published on BitPinas: Thursday Thoughts: Bitcoin Hits $29,000 Briefly
