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The bulls have once again taken control of the Bitcoin price. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap rose to $7200 on Wednesday, posting a market cap of $120 billion. This also lad the entire crypto market cap to hit an all time high of $220 billion.
On November 12, Bitcoin crashed to as low as $5519. Since then it has recovered by nearly $1500, bringing it closer to its all time high. At the time of writing Bitcoin is trading at $7209 a piece, dominating the crypto market by 55%.
There are several factors that could have attributed to this rally, most notably the fact that Man Group, one of the world’s largest hedge funds, stated yesterday that the launch of Bitcoin futures contracts will convince it to make bitcoin part of its “investment universe”.
Traders are also likely to be bullish on the fact that mobile financial services application Square Cash is testing Bitcoin integration and has already rolled the feature out to some users.
88 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies posted significant gains today. Ethereum continued its slow and steady advance by climbing 3% to a present value of $333, posting a market cap of $31.8 billion.
Bitcoin Cash was one of the exceptions today. BCH price plummeted by 8% in the past 24 hours, bringing its value to $1243 and $20 billion market cap.
It is important to note that Bitcoin has crossed a major psychological level of $7000 once again. Over the next couple of days, it’d be interesting to see whether or not the cryptocurrency is able to hold on to its position and find support above $7000.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Man Group hedge fund to launch Bitcoin futures
The historic London-based Man Group, founded in 1783 as a sugar cooperage and brokerage, is one of the world’s largest hedge funds and has close to $100 billion in funds under management.
The group has said it will likely add Bitcoin to its “investment universe” once U.S. exchange CME launches Bitcoin futures contracts next month.
Man Group CEO Luke Ellis said, “Conceptually digital currencies are an interesting thing. It’s not part of our investment universe today – it could be. If there is a CME future on Bitcoin, it would be.”
Why it matters: This announcement is further confirmation that mainstream institutional investors are eying an entry into the Bitcoin ecosystem. Since CME’s Bitcoin futures will trade in a regulated environment, the exchange will have “bumpers” to prevent the market from moving too far in one direction during a single day of trading. This will make a normal investor more comfortable to invest in the cryptocurrency. Furthermore, this move will also attract large amounts of capital from Wall Street firms, which will eventually reduce Bitcoin’s current volatility and make it a mature asset class.
2. FCA issues warning regarding cryptocurrency CFDs
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has cautioned investors who might consider entering into cryptocurrency contracts-for-differences or CFDs. Under a CFD, the two parties involved agree to pay either side in the event that the underlying value of an asset – in this case, an amount of cryptocurrency – changes over time.
The agency said, “Cryptocurrency CFDs are an extremely high-risk, speculative investment. You should be aware of the risks involved and fully consider whether investing in cryptocurrency CFDs is appropriate for you.”
3. ICOs have huge potential, says Russian central bank official
Bank of Russia first deputy chairman Sergei Shvetsov has said that the central bank would “support the development” of the blockchain funding model. This comes in contradiction to Bank of Russia stance, which had published an investor warning about cryptocurrencies and ICOs back in September. Bank of Russia first deputy chairman Sergei Shvetsov has said that the central bank would “support the development” of the blockchain funding model. This comes in contradiction to Bank of Russia stance, which had published an investor warning about cryptocurrencies and ICOs back in September.
Shvetsov quoted, “Our country has a tremendous potential of innovations, our students, young people and entrepreneurs have the edge over any country in the world from the viewpoint of ideas, and amid the lack of classical institutions of startups support, ICO development has a huge potential to finance those ideas.”