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The price of Bitcoin saw a bullish pump following the report revealing that Peter Theil’s Founders Fund has been investing in Bitcoin, but the upward momentum does not look convincing.
Bitcoin price has been fluctuating in the range of $13000 to $15000 for almost two weeks now. Today, the prices jumped by $2,000 in just two hours. On Bitfinex, the Bitcoin price rallied as high as $15,500 – its highest point since Dec. 27 — although it has since declined back to $15,056.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $15,154, posting a market cap of $254 billion. Interestingly, While Bitfinex’s BTC/USD pair remains the most-robust at $857 million, TRX/BTC has surged to $839 million, far outpacing the $484 million traded in South Korean exchange Bithumb’s BTC/KRW market.
As for altcoins, Stellar went up a whopping 50% and Ripple managed to cross $3 mark to register its all-time high. The market cap of altcoins is also at an all-time high as Bitcoin’s dominance continues to diminish.
On the bullish side, first key resistance for the BTC/USD is located at $15800. If this one is broken, expect the next meaningful barrier at $16500. On the bearish side, the first support is at $13800 and next level in the sand would be $12500.
Need more 2018 prediction dose? Here’s a great article to read: https://medium.com/@twobitidiot/95-crypto-theses-for-2018-ca7b74f8abcf
Top Stories from the Crypto World
1. Founders Fund reportedly invested $15-$20 million into Bitcoin
According to a report by WSJ, Founders Fund is sitting on several thousand Bitcoins, spread across several of its recently launched funds.
The firm’s initial investment in Bitcoin amounted to around $15 million to $20 million, but the value of that investment now numbers in the hundreds of millions due to bitcoin’s yearlong rally in 2017.
The firm reportedly told investors that the investment was a high-risk, high reward bet that was particularly attractive due to overstretched valuations in the tech sector.
“The representatives have told firm backers that a cascade of cash into technology companies has stretched their valuations to historic highs, making stakes in startups as dangerous a risk as ever. Bitcoin, on the other hand, could multiply several times over in the coming years,” the report said.
2. There could be 200 Bitcoin Billionaires, according to a MSN Money
Last month Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss grabbed headlines when their portfolio was valued at above $1 billion, making them the first “verified” Bitcoin billionaires. However, blockchain data indicates that there could be as many as 200 Bitcoin billionaires who have kept their holdings a secret to maintain their privacy.
As per the MSN Money report, which cites an unnamed source at blockchain data aggregation website BitInfoCharts.
“A rep for BitInfoCharts, who wished to remain anonymous because of security concerns, told MONEY in an email that, given Bitcoin’s current overall market capitalization and that most people hold Bitcoin at multiple addresses, there may actually be as many as 200 Bitcoin billionaires, and possibly no fewer than 35,” the report said.
Two hundred would seem to be an extremely high estimate, given that bitcoin’s market cap is currently $235 billion, but 35 seems quite plausible.
3. On Jan 20, South Korea will ban anonymous crypto trading
The Korean government is turning up its scrutiny on the burgeoning local cryptocurrency market to curb speculative investments in cryptocurrencies. The government announced its intention to implement curbs among the country’s crypto trading market last week after concerns about “high losses due to excessive volatility.”
“Officials share the view that virtual currency trading is overheating irrationally … and we can no longer overlook this abnormal speculative situation,” an excerpt from the government’s statement added.