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Bitcoin started the week by surprising many analysts who thought that the cryptocurrency would stabilize below $8000 short term. The day opened at $7781 and the prices soon built the upward momentum reaching as high as $8252 on some exchanges.
This rally appears to be a continuation of last week’s uptrend, which was fueled primarily by bullishness that Wall Street investors are preparing to make some major investments in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Another factor attributing to this bullishness is the success of first Bitcoin-to-Litecoin Lightning Network ‘atomic swap’. Furthermore, the Bitcoin network congestion has significantly gone down, reducing the transfer fees. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $8206, posting a market cap of $136 billion.
Although, it isn’t all about Bitcoin anymore — as it turns out altcoins have also been making steady gains. Over the weekend, the total altcoin market cap crossed $100 billion for the first time, just when Bitcoin price was setting a new record at $8100. This lead the total cryptocurrency market cap to reach an all-time high at $243 billion.
Ethereum prices have also begun a steady journey towards an all-time high. As of now trading at $365, the cryptocurrency is maintaining its market cap at $35 billion. Notably, Ethereum has been the primary driver behind the sudden surge in altcoin market cap.
In the past week alone, the Ethereum price has risen by about $40, and billionaire hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz predicts that it is set to rise even higher – even reaching $400 – an all-time high.
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. CME’s Bitcoin futures likely to start trading from December 11
Last week, CME CEO Terry Duffy confirmed that Bitcoin futures will be listed in the second of December. Today, a statement on company’s website read:
“Effective Sunday[,] 10 December 2017 for trade date Monday[,] 11 December 2017, and pending all relevant regulatory review periods, please be advised that CME will launch Bitcoin Futures.”
Each contract will constitute 5 BTC, trading on both the CME Globex and CME ClearPort systems and using CME’s existing bitcoin price indices.Spot position limits are set at 1,000 contracts.
Why it matters: CME group is the largest options exchange in the global finance sector. The price of Bitcoin has already surpassed $8000 mark and is building upward momentum to achieve new highs. If large-scale hedge funds and institutional investors invest in Bitcoin with an influx of tens of billions of dollars causing the daily trading volume to surge, the price of Bitcoin will likely cruise through $10,000.
2. 62% institutional investors are considering buying Bitcoin
According to a newly released survey, 62% of institutional investors are buying or considering buying Bitcoin. When asked whether they had ever bought Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, 31% said yes, with around half having done so only within the last six months.
Another 36% professed to be considering buying Bitcoin, 31% ruled it out altogether and just 1.5% of respondents confessed to being unfamiliar with Bitcoin.
3. Quebec attracts cryptocurrency miners with inexpensive hydropower
Quebec is increasingly becoming a location of interest for bitcoin miners because the province offers inexpensive electricity and cold winters provide inexpensive cooling.
Hydro-Quebec, a state-owned enterprise based in Montreal, manages the distribution of power throughout Quebec. It is estimated that more than 40% of Canada’s water resources are located in the province, resulting in Hydro-Quebec comprising the fourth largest producer of hydropower in the world.
According to a young entrepreneur, Bertrand, who runs approximately 50 ASICs in a warehouse on the outskirts of Montreal. He claims a lot of companies from Iceland and China are interested in setting up their mining operations in Quebec.