The takeaway:
Bitcoin nearly tripled its price in 2020 and ended the year near $ 29,000, but ether gained 450%.
- Bitcoin (BTC) traded around $ 28,963 from 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET) and gained 1.5% in the previous 24 hours.
- Bitcoin 24-Hour Series: $ 27,916.63 – $ 29,280.05 (CoinDesk 20)
Bitcoin hit a new record high of more than $ 29,000 early Thursday before charting a quick payback of $ 27,900 during U.S. trading hours, according to data compiled by CoinDesk 20.
Despite the slight decline, the first cryptocurrency, according to market value, maintains its third consecutive monthly profit, an achievement last achieved in the second quarter of 2019. at least a 290% profit.
The price increases place bitcoin far ahead of traditional assets such as gold and equities. The yellow metal rose 25% this year and the S&P 500, Wall Street’s benchmark index, added 15%.
The year 2020 will go down in history as the era of bitcoin maturing as a macrobat, with prominent listed companies like MicroStrategy diversifying their cash reserves into the cryptocurrency.
Most observers expect a continued rally in 2021. ‘The long-term economic consequences of COVID are unknown. However, as we are still in the midst of major economic disruptions and historical volatility, I believe bitcoin / crypto will continue to rise and be on the cusp of positive change, ‘said Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, chief executive of currency exchange. exchange Binance, said in a New Year’s message.
Analysts at investment banking giant JPMorgan predict that bitcoin’s growing general adoption will hurt the price of gold.
However, according to Ki Young Ju, CEO of the CryptoQuant data provider, a correction can be seen in the short term if the inflow of institutional investors decreases.
“We have had no significant outflow of Coinbase since $ 23,000,” Ju told CoinDesk. ‘The money transferred decreases and the fund flow ratio for all bursaries increases. Gray-scale BTC holdings have been 607,000 since December 25, ”
From a technical analysis point of view, $ 27,300 is the most important support that, if violated, would open the doors to $ 25,300, according to the daily email for bitcoin analysis of the crypto exchange.
Ether outperforms bitcoin
- Ether (ETH) was trading at around $ 742.19 from 21:00 UTC (16:00 ET), down 0.8% from the previous 24 hours.
- Ether’s 24-Hour Range: $ 723.18 – $ 755.56 (CoinDesk 20)
Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value, picked up more than 450% this year compared to bitcoin’s 300% range. The crypto-currency rose 31-month high of $ 757 on Wednesday and was last traded at $ 730.
Ether has received a boost from the explosive growth of decentralized finances in 2020, and stronger profits can be predicted next year.
According to Ryan Watkins, an analyst at crypto data provider Messari, the CME’s recent announcement to launch ether futures contracts in February is a sign of growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin recorded a strong rally in the run-up to the futures listing on CME three years ago. The exchange announced bitcoin futures on October 31, 2017, when the cryptocurrency traded close to $ 6,300, and the first contract traded on December 27. At that time, the prizes were $ 20,000.
Other markets
Digital assets on the CoinDesk 20 are mostly off Monday.
Notable winners on the day from 19:00 UTC (14:00 ET):
- cosmos (ATOM): + 11.5%
- chainlink (LINK): + 1.7%
- OMG Network (OMG): + 1.6%
- orchid (OXT): -5.0%
- ster (XLM): -4.5%
- bitcoin cash (BCH): -4.0%
- Japan: Nikkei 225: 27,444.17 (-123.98 or -0.45%)
- UK: FTSE 100: 6,460.52 (-95.30 or -1.45%)
- US: S&P 500: 3,756.07 (+24.03 or + 0.64%)
- Oil fell by 0.22%. Price per barrel West Texas Intermediate crude: $ 48.18.
- Gold was up 0.3% in the green and at $ 1,900 at press time.
- The US Treasury yield rate of ten years fell to 0.917% on Thursday.
