The Takeaway:
Bitcoin almost triples its price in 2020 and closes the year close to $ 29,000, but the ether has gained 450%.
- Bitcoin (BTC) was traded at around $ 28,963 as of 21:00 UTC (4 pm ET), gaining 1.5% over the previous 24 hours.
- Bitcoin 24-hour range: $ 27,916.63 – $ 29,280.05 (CoinDesk 20)
Bitcoin registered a new record above $ 29,000 on Thursday, before drawing a rapid retreat to $ 27,900 during U.S. trading hours, according to data compiled by CoinDesk 20.
Despite the small drop, cryptocurrency number one by market value is eyeing its third consecutive monthly gain, a feat last achieved in the second quarter of 2019. The cryptocurrency rose more than 45% this month alone and is on its way to finish 2020 with at least a 290% gain.
Rising prices put bitcoin far ahead of traditional assets like gold and stocks. Yellow metal gained 25% this year, and the S&P 500, the Wall Street benchmark, added 15%.
2020 will go down in history as the period when bitcoin matures as an active macro, with prominent publicly traded companies like MicroStrategy diversifying its cash reserves in cryptocurrencies.
Most observers expect a continued recovery in 2021. “COVID’s long-term economic impacts are unknown. However, as we are still in the midst of major economic disruptions and historical volatility, I believe bitcoin / crypto will continue to grow and be at the height of positive change, ”said Changpeng“ CZ ”Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency binance. in a new year message.
Analysts at investment bank giant JPMorgan predict that the growing adoption of bitcoin is affecting the price of gold.
However, a correction could be seen in the short term if the cash flow from institutional investors slows down, according to Ki Young Ju, CEO of cryptocurrency data provider CryptoQuant.
“We haven’t had significant outflows from Coinbase since $ 23,000,” Ju told CoinDesk. “Transferred tokens are decreasing and the proportion of funds flowing to all exchanges is increasing. There are 607,000 BTC collections in shades of gray since December 25 ”,
From a technical analysis standpoint, $ 27,300 is the key support that, if breached, would open the door to $ 25,300, according to the crypto exchange EQUOS daily bitcoin analysis email.
Ether outperforms bitcoin
- Ether (ETH) trading around $ 742.19 as of 21:00 UTC (4 pm ET), down 0.8% from the previous 24 hours.
- Ether 24-hour interval: $ 723.18 – $ 755.56 (CoinDesk 20)
Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, gained more than 450% this year against the 300% rise in bitcoin. The cryptocurrency rose to a $ 757 high in 31 months on Wednesday and was seen trading for the last time at $ 730.
Ether received a boost from the explosive growth of decentralized finance in 2020, and bigger gains could come in the next year.
According to Ryan Watkins, an analyst at cryptographic data provider Messari, the CME’s recent announcement to launch ether futures in February is a sign of growing institutional interest in cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin registered a strong recovery in the race for the CME futures listing three years ago. The exchange announced bitcoin futures on October 31, 2017, when the cryptocurrency was trading close to $ 6,300, and traded the first contract on December 27. At that time, prices were approaching $ 20,000.
Other markets
Digital assets at CoinDesk 20 are down on Monday.
Notable winners on the day from 19:00 UTC (14:00 ET):
- cosmos (ATOM): + 11.5%
- chain link (LINK): + 1.7%
- OMG Network (OMG): + 1.6%
- orchid (OXT): -5.0%
- stellar (XLM): -4.5%
- bitcoin money (BCH): -4.0%
- Japan: Nikkei 225: 27,444.17 (-123.98 or -0.45%)
- United Kingdom: FTSE 100: 6,460.52 (-95.30 or -1.45%)
- US: S&P 500: 3,756.07 (+24.03 or + 0.64%)
- Oil fell 0.22%. Price per barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude: $ 48.18.
- Gold was in the green 0.3% and at $ 1,900 so far.
- Yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds fell Thursday to 0.917%.
