Bitcoin On The Brink, Price Soars Above $68,000 – Will BTC Break Its 2021 Record?

On Monday, a flood of capital brought Bitcoin within striking distance of record values, sending it soaring to a two-year high and breaching past $68,000. At its peak, the price was $68,800.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $67,980, up 6.6% and 20.6% in the daily and weekly timeframes, data from Coingecko shows.

In recent weeks, as investment in bitcoin funds listed in the United States has increased dramatically, the value of the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap has increased by half this year.

Bitcoin Heating Up

As more and more people get interested in and optimistic about the market, Bitcoin’s incredible upward trajectory becomes clear in a thorough examination of the weekly chart.

The bitcoin price has recently surged, helped along in part by the adoption of spot Bitcoin ETFs, and is already approaching the all-time high of $69K, which the cryptocurrency attained in November 2021. It has already surpassed numerous important resistance levels.

Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto exchange Nexo, stated that after the launch of these nine new ETFs, major market movements no longer occur on weekends but rather during the regular trading week.

Trenchev also pointed out that today’s events could be a repeat of last week’s, when bitcoin’s value increased by $10,000 in a matter of days.

The price of bitcoin has soared this year, and its market capitalization has already topped $1.3 trillion, making it one of the biggest assets in the world.

The most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin, has surpassed Meta Platforms (META), the parent company of Facebook, and is currently approaching silver’s market value of $1.4 trillion, according to figures provided by CompaniesMarketCap.

More than half of the $2.17 billion net flows into the top ten US spot bitcoin funds in the week leading up to March 1 went into BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.O), opens new tab, according to statistics from LSEG.

Ethereum, a smaller competitor, has capitalised on rumors that it, too, could soon offer exchange-traded funds that stimulate inflows. It is up 50% year-to-date and reached two-year highs on Tuesday, rising 2.5% to $3,517.

Bitcoin Leads The Way

Simultaneously, Bitcoin boosted many cryptocurrency tokens, particularly meme currencies. Dogecoin saw a 30% increase, and Shiba Inu had a 90% surge. People who have been sitting on their hands during the current crypto rise are finally getting back into it, according to analysts. According to crypto data source Kaiko, the weekly transaction volume of meme tokens climbed to its highest level since late 2021 last week.

Meanwhile, Cubic Analytics CEO Caleb Franzen made the observation in a Sunday report that Bitcoin is beating the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index (NDX). Breaking over a critical level connecting the first quarter and end quarter of 2021 highs, he characterized bitcoin’s breakout versus NDX as “very encouraging.”

“Bitcoin is about to enter price discovery (again) and people are somehow bearish? Couldn’t be me,” he said in an X post Monday.

Joel Kruger, a market strategist at digital currency exchange LMAX Group, told CBS MoneyWatch that investors are seeing the benefits of treating bitcoin as an uncorrelated asset, which makes it very appealing for portfolio diversification.

Featured image from P2E Crypto Media, chart from TradingView

THORChain Beats Rivals In Top 100 Coin Rankings With 34% Rally – How RUNE Did It

Over the past week, the market has exhibited a pattern of lateral movement, particularly noticeable in the top cryptocurrencies which have shown a downtrend in their pricing. Notably, THORChain has emerged as the standout performer, demonstrating significant strength by surging over 5% in value within the last day, and an impressive 34% increase over the course of the week.

RUNE Soars Over 270%: A Thrilling Journey Of Value Surge

Recently, the RUNE token on THORChain has seen a tremendous ascent. It started off on a fantastic trajectory, rising from a low of just under $0.80 on June 14 to a solid high of $2.90 today—a phenomenal 270% gain.

A reversal from a descending triangle, which gained significant traction around August 15, was the catalyst for this advance. Despite some ups and downs coming up to October 20th, the token managed to gain another 80%.

This surge in value stands as a testament to the robustness of THORChain’s RUNE token, buoyed not only by the impressive price momentum but also by an evident surge in trading volume. RUNE has advanced from its lowest level this year, making the token among the top-performing cryptocurrencies in the world.

THORChain: Impending Breakout And The $10 Target

This increased trading activity not only substantiates the upward trend but also underscores a burgeoning confidence among buyers, emphasizing a collective belief in driving the coin towards even greater heights.

Captain Faibik, a well-known analyst in the cryptocurrency space with an impressive following of almost 68,000 on the X platform, recently made an observation that caught our attention: there may be an impending breakout in the price of RUNE, indicating the possibility of substantial movement in the near future.

Based on the analyst’s possible breakout scenario, a big bullish upswing could happen if the RUNE price breaks through its current horizontal support level. The possible rise in price of THORChain could push it toward a major milestone, with a goal of reaching $10 during the rush.

RUNE: Breaking Resistance And The $3 Billion Milestone

Breaking through this resistance level is a key turning point that could cause prices to rise by a huge amount, indicating a bullish trend that could push THORChain’s price close to a major threshold.

The achievement of $3 billion in on-chain trade volume on major decentralized exchanges (DEXs) is one noteworthy milestone that is contributing to the price increase, along with several other basic variables.

This significant growth raises questions about the rally’s sustainability. Could the price go through $3 and rise even farther, or is it already at its breaking point?

Meanwhile, the network processed over $3 billion in on-chain transactions this month, setting new records. This holds significance due to the network’s substantial volume of $2.3 billion only in the third quarter.

During this period, it generated a total of $3.38 million in fees. This indicates that THORChain is experiencing an increasing level of popularity and adoption among its user base.

(This site’s content should not be construed as investment advice. Investing involves risk. When you invest, your capital is subject to risk).

Featured image from Shutterstock

Seety, Belgian Startup, Launches Bitcoin Payment For Parking Sessions

The adoption of crypto as a payment method for everyday goods and services has risen in recent months. Digital parking startup, Seety, has made it possible to pay for parking tickets with Bitcoin in some Belgian cities. According to a report by DataNews on Thursday, the Belgian startup released this crypto payment feature in Antwerp and Brussels.

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In addition to Bitcoin, users can also use other digital currencies to make payments. The options include cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and stablecoins like DAI and USD coin.

The company expects cryptocurrencies to become more environmentally friendly in due course, meaning they will increasingly be used to pay for everyday goods and services.

How Seety Works

To use crypto coins to pay for a parking space via Seety, users can purchase Seety credits on the app. The transaction costs are the same as for the payment by credit card.

Seety features an interactive map on its app that helps users locate the cheapest or free parking spots. Additionally, they can determine the prices and parking regulations for any street or parking lot in town. A community feature notifies a member in case a parking officer is spotted near their car. With Seety, users can find the cheapest parking zones, avoid parking fines and pay for their parking in two clicks.

Total crypto market rises to $2.275 Trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap from TradingView.com

The company also recently introduced its app in more than a hundred Dutch cities and municipalities. The app, available for iOS and Android, now has 355,000 active members and expects a turnover of 400,000 euros in 2021. For 2022, the startup aims for a turnover of 2 million euros.

The startup is one of the firms bootstrapped by the Belgian accelerator program Start it @KBC.

Using Crypto For Everyday Transactions

Using crypto to pay for parking services dates back to years ago. In 2014, a Reddit user posted that he had paid a parking ticket with Bitcoin using the online marketplace Brawker.

Related Reading | Visa Customers Have Spent Over $1B On Crypto-Linked Cards This Year

Recently, Visa stated that its crypto-enabled cards processed over $1 billion in crypto spending in the first half of 2021.

Featured image from AppWikia.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Deloitte Survey Shows 76% Of Finance Execs Think Physical Money Is Nearing Its End

A recent survey from Deloitte that collated data from 1,280 senior finance executives in 10 locations across the world produced interesting results regarding the blockchain industry. This survey is Deloitte’s fourth annual Global Blockchain Survey, which focuses on the financial services industry (FSI). Findings from the survey show that there is a need for the industry to turn towards product modernization and distribution in order to see economic growth.

When polled, 76% of the 1,280 respondents said they believed that the end of physical money is near. And that digital assets were set to replace fiat currencies in the next five to 10 years. This will obviously have a significant impact on the financial services industry, but the respondents remained optimistic about the revenue potential of both blockchain and crypto, and digital currencies.

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“The Deloitte ‘Global Blockchain Survey’ shows that the foundation of banking has been fundamentally outlived and financial services industry players must redefine themselves and find innovative ways to create economic growth in the future of money.” – Linda Paw-czuk, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and global and U.S. blockchain and digital assets leader

Blockchain Is Already Mainstream, Says Survey

The survey also showed that the majority – nearly 80% – of global FSI leaders believed that digital assets are going to be very/somewhat important to their various industries in the next two years. They also see both digital assets and blockchain technologies as a strategic priority now and in the future.

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73% of respondents admitted that a recurring fear was that their various organizations would lose competitive advantage if they failed to adopt digital assets and blockchain technology. Findings also showed that 81% of respondents agreed that blockchain technology is highly scalable, and according to them, has already achieved mainstream adoption.

The world is no doubt headed towards a completely digital world. Things like paper currencies are likely to be obsolete in the near future. Hence, financial services industries need to shift to new business models for revenue generation. Digital assets will be used to simplify payments. And 43% of respondents said that these new payment options represent a “very important” role for digital assets.

Related Reading | Grayscale Tops Up Ethereum Investment To $10 Billion

Richard Walker, a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP and U.S. financial services industry blockchain leader, had some thoughts on this. “As digital asset disruption rapidly changes the marketplace, global financial services are striving to reinvent themselves, creating businesses to generate new sources of revenue.” Walker went on to add, “Opportunities for real change in several areas of the global financial markets exist for those players that explore new ways to harness the power of blockchain technology and digital assets to reimagine their business modes.”