Bitcoin on Further Upswing And Now Above $12,000
The positive momentum in Bitcoin is back in play as the cryptocurrency surges past $12,000 and makes a new all-time high of $12,497.63 as per our data. Last week, Bitcoin was on a sloppy ride after U.S Court’s orders to Coinbase of disclosing 14,000 transactions to the IRS. A bit of fear and anxiety soon gripped the market which was followed by a huge sell-off witnessed on major exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini. As the exchange suffered serious outages and heavy selling pressure, it could not complete transactions and were left with no option but to suspend trading for a few hours.
However, the situation resumed to normalcy later, and just in two days, the cryptocurrency received a huge boost as the U.S. derivates regulator granted the permission to both CBOE and CME Group to launch its Bitcoin futures contract. Both CBOE and CME Group have finally announced the dates of their launch and this month is likely to play a deciding role in Bitcoin’s further momentum.
The Bitcoin Futures Contracts are expected to bring a lot of legitimacy to the crypto markets thereby reducing the volatility in the Bitcoin prices and bringing-in the required stability. This is further expected to bring more investors and cash-flow to the Bitcoin platform.
Commenting on this latest price surge in Bitcoin, Leonhard Weese, president of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong said “There is a lot of money flowing into bitcoin right now, mostly motivated by ”fear of missing out“ and greed.”
Moreover, Chris Wood, managing director & equity strategist at CLSA in his weekly note of GREED and fear writes “ GREED and fear would be surprised if the cryptocurrency story did not run further. But the longer term story is whether governments regulate cryptocurrencies out of existence or co-opt blockchain technology for their own purposes. Meanwhile, an old-fashioned GREED & fear favours gold and gold stocks even though it is clear that money that might otherwise have gone into gold plays of late has been attracted to the crypto phenomenon.”
Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners, while recently talking to CNBC said that the unprecedented run in the Bitcoin prices has gripped the worries of many regulatory agencies. Novogratz said: "I've got concern that if price movements go higher we're going to get more regulation. I think it's hard to shut down. ... I don't think that's a probability.
He further added that "One of the big risks out there right now is that prices are moving so fast that regulators are going to get nervous. I could legitimately see bitcoin go $13,000, $14,000, $20,000, $25,000 and see somebody balk.”
It is going to be an interesting journey going ahead and even though Bitcoin has shunned all its critics in the past, still many economists continue to believe that this is a bubble and can blast anytime.