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Bitcoin recorded a surprising rise of 16% in value, from $6,900 to $8,000. The price of the cryptocurrency rose by $1,100 within a 30-minute window, as massive buy volumes emerged. Bulls seem to have returned in action despite the downward pressure observed in 2018.
Some reports suggested that Bitcoin had processed the most amount of trades within a one-hour period on April 12 than any other day in its 10-year history. While this data is difficult to confirm given that the trading volume of all cryptocurrency exchanges in the global market would have to be analyzed, Bitcoin has rarely seen a sudden 16 percent increase in its price, primarily because of its large market valuation and high daily trading volume.
Bitcoin is currently trading at around $8,118, representing a market cap of $137 billion with 42.2% dominance on the crypto market. Total market cap is now solidly above $300 bln, having jumped around $52 bln since yesterday.
All of the top ten coins on CoinMarketCap are in the green, all with gains of more than 10% on the day. IOTA has seen the most growth, up more than 35 percent over a 24 hour period and currently trading around $1.42.
Fundstrat’s Tom Lee sees the reason for the rise as a combo of Santander’s news that they would launch a Blockchain-based international payment service with Ripple, that crypto selling for taxes is almost at its end, and that “speculative short investors [are] being squeezed out of the market for the surge,”
According to Miguel Shwiezer, the co-founder of hedge fund Quantia Capital, the price jump caused short sellers to close positions, “spurring a waterfall of buy orders.”
This week also saw a plethora of Wall Street money and talent moving into the crypto sphere and possibly influencing the crypto markets —reports circulated that billionaire investor George Soros would begin to have his family office trade in cryptocurrencies, the Rockefeller’s venture capital arm partnered with Coinfund to support crypto and Blockchain development, and a Goldman Sachs executive reportedly left to join Mike Novogratz’s future crypto merchant bank.
However, it is virtually impossible to pinpoint a single factor to justify the price trend of any cryptocurrency, because a variety of factors can contribute to the momentum of a cryptocurrency.
Investors and traders have grown tired of considering the entrance of institutional investors and retail traders as a major factor the long-term price growth of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The truth is, the demand from institutional investors has been non-existent to this date. But, in April, the outlook on cryptocurrency market by retail traders have changed, following the entrance of George Soros, the Rockefeller family, and the Rothschild.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Indian exchange claims insider job in $3 million Bitcoin theft
Indian bitcoin exchange Coinsecure has disclosed a theft of 438 bitcoins, valued at over $3 million, from its wallet in what is the country’s biggest cryptocurrency theft to date.
Delhi-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinsecure has accused its own CSO of stealing the coins from the company’s wallet in an FIR (First Information Report) filed with the police on Thursday. In an announcement on its homepage, the exchange said some of its bitcoin funds had “been exposed” and “seem to have been siphoned out to an address” that is beyond its own control.
Coinsecure insists its own systems haven’t been compromised nor hacked. Instead, the exchange points to the unconvincing claim of its CSO, Amitabh Saxena, who contends the theft occurred during a separate “exercise to extract BTG (Bitcoin Gold)” to distribute among its customers.
Coinsecure says, “Our CSO, Dr. Amitabh Saxena, was extracting BTG and he claims that funds have been lost in the process during the extraction of the private keys.”
“As the private keys are kept with Dr. Amitabh Saxena, we feel that he is making a false story to divert our attention and he might have a role to play in this entire incident. The incident reported by Dr. Amitabh Saxena does not seem convincing to us.”
2. XRP absolutely not a security, says Chief Marketing Strategist
Johnson told CNBC Wednesday that Ripple was not a security as to allay speculation that XRP had not been added to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase due to questions over its status. Johnson said, “We absolutely are not a security. We don’t meet the standards for what a security is based on the history of court law.”
Coinbase and Ripple had discussed the possibility of adding its cryptocurrency XRP to the exchange, but according to Johnson, they did not broach the topic of XRP’s status with regulators. Johnson said:
“Coinbase never ever raised the issue of whether or not XRP is a security in our discussion about listing XRP. We’re 100 percent clear, it’s not a security. We don’t meet the standards.”
3. Kenya central bank chief warns against crypto risks
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) is once again seeking to dissuade domestic businesses from dealing in cryptocurrencies.
Following what the institution called massive price volatility in the sector, the national bank has issued a circular to financial institutions on the subject, a development revealed in an appearance by the governor of the CBK before the nation’s parliament.
In statements, Patrick Njoroge, the governor of the national bank, sought to expand on past public statements, including a notable one in November in which he warned investors similarly.
He said, “There are risks associated with cryptocurrency particularly on consumer protection, fraud, hacking and loss of data and they are prone to be used as pyramid schemes.”