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After trading in the range of $300 – $400 for a couple of months, Ethereum price has finally surpassed a much-awaited $400 mark and registered an all-time high at $422.
As of now, ETH is trading at $420, posting a market cap of $40 billion. Ethereum is now processing more transactions a day than all other cryptocurrencies combined.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, traded sideways all day. The cryptocurrency reached up to $8304, but bearish momentum soon took the price to $8184. It appears that Bitcoin investors are reducing their holdings ahead of the holidays.
Furthermore, there are concerns regarding the financial health of Bitfinex, one of the largest exchanges, which could also have an influence on the current Bitcoin price movement.
That being said, investors and traders do not appear too concerned about the Bitfinex issue and is instead assessing the impact of the rally in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum (ETH) prices on Bitcoin.
Analysts including Bitfury vice chairman George Kikvadze stated that all indicators point towards strong short and mid-term momentum for Bitcoin. He said, “Buying even more Bitcoin at $8000. All indicators are super positive. Most positive they have ever been.”
Kikvadze also revealed that he has met 30 large-scale institutional investors and retail traders. Out of the 30 investors, 12 are in the process of investing in Bitcoin, 10 plan to invest in Bitcoin in the short-term, and eight remain undecided.
Bitcoin price also seems to be waiting on for more updates on CME Bitcoin futures, but the market’s enthusiasm towards the performance of Bitcoin in December would likely push the price of the largest cryptocurrency to $9000 in the short-term.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. South Korean Finance Watchdog has no plans to regulate Bitcoin trading
Choe Heung-sik, chief of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) has said that, since his agency does not view cryptocurrencies as “legitimate currency,” the FSS does not intend to supervise trading of the digital assets.
Choe added the South Korean government believes that cryptocurrencies are used in speculation, not as payment tools. As a result, the watchdog considers that cryptocurrencies are not financial products, nor is trading them a financial service.
“Though we are monitoring the practice of cryptocurrency trading, we don’t have plans right now to directly supervise exchanges. Supervision will come only after the legal recognition of digital tokens as a legitimate currency.” he added.
Interestingly, South Korea is one of the biggest markets for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. So much so that if a coin is about to go live on a South Korean exchange, there is a huge pump in the price.
2. US Defence bill could give big boost to Blockchain
Part of a larger bill called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Modernizing Government Technology Act (MGT) will allow the public sector to redirect cost savings into internal working capital funds that can be used to upgrade their IT systems.
Based on what U.S. government officials have said in the past, Trey Hodgkins, senior vice president of public sector at the Information Technology Industry Council in Washington, D.C., has said:
“Blockchain was clearly one of the technological capabilities that Congress meant for agencies to look at, and what they were trying to do was create dollars with some flexibility to them so that agencies would have their own discretion on what they invest in.”
3. Real estate world is shocked to find out how many people have Bitcoin
The real estate world is under pressure to accept Bitcoin. Savvy sellers are looking to cash out depreciating fiat, hoping to ride the decentralized cryptocurrency’s increasing value.
Ben Shaoul of Magnum Real Estate Group said, “We were just shocked to find out how many people have bitcoin. I bought some myself last summer, and now I wish I bought more – who knew how this would explode?”
Ben claims to have had two more offers of Bitcoin for condos and intends to expand with advertising to Bitcoiners as a result.