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Edited by Ritu13 at 22-12-2023 01:56 PM
Cryptocurrencies continued their upward trend on Friday, while the stock market traded sideways. Analysts suggest that the bull market for Bitcoin has begun.
After a slight dip on Thursday, Bitcoin returned to green on Friday. The largest cryptocurrency was trading at around $43,700 at the time of publication, briefly exceeding $44,000.
Ether remained relatively stable on Friday but maintained a monthly gain of nearly 25% over the past 30 days. As 2023 approaches, Ether has surged approximately 95% year-to-date.
The stock market experienced a minor uptick, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices rising by about 0.2% during Friday's trading session.
Thomas Performo, Kraken's Chief Strategic Officer, suggested that with Bitcoin's next halving scheduled for April 2024 and the potential policy shift by the Federal Reserve, investors may be on the verge of a perfect storm.
Performo stated, "This will be the fourth halving, and almost every halving has marked the beginning of a bull market cycle, with the peak occurring around 18 months after the halving event." He added, "This halving is unique because the inflation rate of Bitcoin's circulating supply will drop below 1% for the first time in history." "This essentially crosses the threshold set by gold as a benchmark for this robust currency; gold's supply growth rate has consistently been above 1%, but very stable, in the low single digits."
Luke Nolan, Research Assistant at CoinShares, noted that both Bitcoin and Ether have seen gains of over 56% since early October 2023. The catalyst for this rise is the optimistic outlook on the eventual listing of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.
Nolan commented, "People are ahead of the massive flow they think an ETF launch could bring." "If the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF, the world's largest capital market regulator would give a 'stamp of approval' to this asset class."
As traders eagerly await the first batch of ETF listings, Performo suggested that the upward trend in Bitcoin's spot prices is unlikely to stop.
"In general, this is positive for prices," Performo said. "I mean, one of the biggest barriers in the U.S., especially in terms of investment, is the accessibility of cryptocurrencies in retirement accounts. Having cryptocurrencies in a securitized form through an ETF is a very common understanding product today, even for retail investors, and I think that's a very powerful statement."
Jito, the governance token for the equity investment project Jito based on Solana, made its debut through an airdrop on Thursday. By Friday, JTO's trading price had risen by over 180% from its initial price of $1.20, with nearly $110 million available for grabs during the airdrop.
Solana (SOL) appeared to ride the wave of JTO, experiencing an increase on Friday as well, rising by over 11% in the past 24 hours at the time of writing.
Performo commented, "If history repeats itself, you often see smart contract platforms accelerate development, and then assets with higher volatility like dApps—because they are usually smaller assets—often follow suit." "I can confidently see Bitcoin leading to a cycle involving Ethereum, Solana, and some other alts."
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