December 2020 – Holpop News

First, since Jan. 1, Bitcoin has seen a significant gain as its price jumped from $7,195 to as much as $28,422.

The price of Bitcoin increased by 290 percent within 12 months, outperforming all global stock indexes and most stocks, aside from a small few, including Tesla (TSLA).

The growth in retail demand, favorable financial conditions as a result of central bank liquidity injections, and the fall of the U.S. dollar have been the key catalysts driving Bitcoin’s rally.

Despite its recent sluggish period versus Bitcoin, the Ether (ETH) price has performed strongly during 2020. In 2020, the Ether price began at $128 across major markets and ETH hit $748 at its height on Dec. 30.

The Eth2 release was the key engine of Ether’s rally during November. Eth2 started after hitting a threshold of over 400,000 ETH in deposits.

For Ethereum, Eth2 is a wide network update as it exponentially scales the blockchain over time. Without Eth2, Ethereum is able to process under 20 transactions per second. With Eth2, this figure increases to potentially thousands of transactions per second.

Much of the old school altcoins (the ones from 2017 and earlier), like XRP, Cadano (ADA), and Stellar (XLM) lagged behind Bitcoin pr. in year-to-date results.

XRP initially performed especially well in November out of the original altcoins when Bitcoin rallied towards its all-time peak.

XRP started the year at $0.1923 and rose to as much as $0.9210, representing a four-fold rise in approximately 11 months. However, as BTC surged past $20,000, altcoins took a hit, causing XRP to drop to $0.52. After the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple, XRP dropped further, declining to as low as $0.17.

On Dec. 30, after a recent turnaround brought it past its $28,400 all-time high, Bitcoin (BTC) returned to hitting tops.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView revealed that, during trading on Wednesday, BTC/USD tackled its new historic top.

Bitcoin confirmed that it had little patience for bears after momentarily dropping as low as $25,830 over the past 24 hours in a powerful resurgence overnight.

At press time, daily returns were at 7.5 per cent as $28,560 became reality.

Before the end of the year, the move takes Bitcoin ever closer to sealing $30,000 as a new psychological stage, something that just one week earlier seemed all but unthinkable.

However, analysts do suspect that a turnaround might carry the largest cryptocurrency down to current support at $19,500, as Cointelegraph stated.

On Tuesday, analyst Michaël van de Poppe of Cointelegraph Markets nevertheless highlighted $27,500 as the crucial region to crack in order to pave the way for fresh all-time highs.

After Coinbase’s decision to halt trade, the XRP price fell by 30 percent on Dec. 29.

Owing to the fear of further exchange delistings, the investor mood around XRP has been disproportionately adverse.

In the short term, at $0.224, $0.1743 and $0.1471, XRP faces three main historical support values.

Where is the XRP price going to go next?

XRP’s current price pattern is neither cyclical nor contingent on technical research. It is due to buyers selling XRP from big cryptocurrency exchanges following the suspension of trade.

Coinbase announced on Dec. 29 that it is suspending trading pairs of XRP on its website. The chief legal officer at Coinbase, Paul Grewal, wrote:

“In light of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc, we have made the decision to suspend the XRP trading pairs on our platform. Trading will move into limit only starting December 28, 2020 at 2:30 PM PST, and will be fully suspended on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time*. We will provide additional updates, if any, through the Coinbase Support Twitter account, including if there are any changes to timing.”

As Cointelegraph had previously reported, after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission lodged its lawsuit, analysts wanted Coinbase to suspend XRP trading.

Coinbase expects to undergo an initial public offering, and it is in the best interest of the company to be completely compliant with U.S. regulators.

Bitcoin (BTC) whale clusters demonstrate that the $23,409 range for major traders has become an area of focus. This suggests that whales that continue to aggregate over $23,000 boost the continuing bull market.

When whales buy Bitcoin, whale clusters shape and do not move their BTC holdings away from the purchase price. Clusters are useful, particularly as the market changes quickly, in deciding Bitcoin’s support levels.

According to analysts at Whalemap, a data analytics firm that tracks Bitcoin whale activity, BTC has formed a strong floor in the $23,000 to $23,500 range. They said:

“Surprisingly large amounts of losses were flowing on-chain at 19k prices. When this happens in bullish conditions BTC gives us nice rallies (10k–>20k last time). We have multiple strong supports at recent prices as well… Should not be going lower than $23,409.”

Due to the possibility of abrupt corrections, it is critical for Bitcoin to create strong support areas during a bull run. If whale clusters, like $23,409, are present at high price ranges, then whales are likely to bid marginally higher and maintain the momentum of Bitcoin.

A vast amount of data revealing the personal details of over 270,000 clients, including phone numbers and physical addresses, was recently dumped by the hacker possibly responsible for Ledger’s security breach in July. The leak also contained 1 million emails that were subscribing to the company’s newsletter service from Ledger wallet owners and clients.

Ledger says its emphasis is on strengthening the security architecture in the face of the furor created by the crash, rather than reimbursing customers for any damage that could arise. Meanwhile, in the form of a class-action case, some impacted consumers are allegedly considering taking legal action against the firm.

For the argument against introducing more Know Your Consumer enforcement protocols, the Ledger customer data breach also provides fresh ammunition, opponents of which contend that such initiatives facilitate coordinated cyber attacks aimed at revealing sensitive personal data.

More than 270,000 records of personal accounts is compromised

As reported, back in July, the hacker probably responsible for breaching the Ledger e-commerce database dumped online the personal data of thousands of affected people. On social media, the company was criticized for not having better consumer data protection and downplaying the seriousness of the original hack. The hardware wallet manufacturer announced at the time that only 9,500 clients were harmed by the security breach.

Bitcoin (BTC) kept the volatility coming on Dec. 23 as a dive to $22,800 sparked a lightning-fast rally to classic $24,000 resistance.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets, Coin360 and TradingView monitored BTC/USD as factors that rendered chaotic conditions prevail, including panic among XRP traders.

The pair circled about $23,700 at press time after momentarily rising above selling thresholds at $24,000. Both this occurred in the same few hours, and in a matter of minutes saw Bitcoin go from current prices to $22,800 and back again.

Meanwhile, Ripple, the main XRP holder, is facing a fresh lawsuit from U.S. authorities over alleged unlicensed securities sales. Analysts fear that XRP trading will be completely killed due to the regulatory implications should the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) win the lawsuit.

As Van de Poppe suggested, the advance of Bitcoin came more extensively at the detriment of altcoins, with numerous top-ten tokens seeing frequent declines. At $611, the largest altcoin, Ether (ETH), was flat on the day.

More and more conventional banks have begun declaring funding for crypto currencies as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to make headlines for record-breaking all-time highs. And big banks such as JPMorgan Chase have taken a renewed interest in the blockchain, which had previously frowned on Bitcoin. “Contrary to what Goldman Sachs recently stated, the strategists of JPMorgan have noted that due to Bitcoin’s growth “the price of gold will suffer from a systemic flow headwind over the coming years.

While JPMorgan Chase is obviously taking a lighter approach on Bitcoin, by providing consumers custody facilities for crypto properties, some leading banks are moving a step further. For instance, on Dec. 21, FV Bank, a Puerto Rico-based digital bank, announced that it had obtained permission from the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions to provide custody services, along with support for ERC-20 tokens, for all major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ether (ETH).

FV Bank CEO Miles Paschini told Cointelegraph that in early 2021, the bank would begin providing custody services embedded into its digital network. It would then be necessary for both institutional and retail clients to open an account for fiat and digital asset balances.

For each digital asset they choose to keep in their accounts, FV Bank account holders will be granted cryptocurrency deposit addresses, according to Paschini. In a safe and insured custodial account connected to the user’s digital bank account, the digital properties will be handled. Via online and mobile banking apps, facilities can be accessed.

In recent months, it was all about Bitcoin (BTC) with altcoin struggling as a result and BTC domination over the past few days hitting a new local peak of 67.5 percent.

Usually, though, a turnaround happens as altcoins continue to display some severe vulnerability and altcoin traders are in depression. Ether (ETH), which is now in a do or die situation against its BTC pair, is the leading predictor for such a U-turn.

Charts speak for themselves, revealing a new upward pattern after the breakout over $300 earlier this year when investors moved into this field immediately. It was a breakthrough from a multi-year range of consolidation, which raises the chances of the longevity of the bull market.

Since then, the price of Ether has burst through $450 and resumed its surge at $675 towards the current peak. A correction towards $450-480 is probable if that becomes the temporary top. However, such a reversal is very good for the markets and can provide momentum for the next impulse wave.

Such an impulse wave could bring ETH prices to $900 and potentially even $1,300 using the Fibonacci extension function.

Bitcoin futures worth approximately $2.3 billion are scheduled to expire on Christmas day, setting the stage for a competitive crypto-currency trading week.

Crypto data provider Skew announced in a Monday tweet that 102,200 options for Bitcoin (BTC) will expire on Friday.

Contracts for options allow holders to purchase or sell Bitcoin at a particular price, known as the strike price. The Friday expiry, according to Skew, has notable clusters about the strike price of $15,000 and the strike price of $20,000.

The expiry date of contracts for Bitcoin options is generally recognized as a risky occurrence for the flagship cryptocurrency because holders change their contracts as the expiry nears. Benefit dealers may still opt to collect the payout and dump the cryptocurrency.

It has been noted that such occurrences cause significant variations in the valuation of Bitcoin. Usually, approximately one or two days before expiry, the effect of a contract on the BTC price becomes more evident.

Skybridge Finance, the investment management company run by Anthony Scaramucci, is unveiling a bitcoin fund called the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund L.P. The Skybridge fund’s news comes from a filing by the Type D Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York-based business holds funds under management (AUM) of over $9.2 billion and the filing reveals that it aims to run a Bitcoin (BTC) fund with approved investors.

It will be for accredited buyers who can buy $50k or more, according to the filing presented on December 21, 2020. It’s a pooled venture and hedge fund and Skybridge has failed to reveal the issuance amount. Furthermore, Rule 506(c) will be adopted by the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund, which requires the solicitation and general promotion of an offer to accredited buyers.

In 2005, Anthony Scaramucci, Brett S. Messing, Raymond Nolte, and Troy Gaveski founded Skybridge Finance. The news of the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund filing on Monday followed the firm explaining that the G II Fund of the company “may hold long and short positions in digital assets.” Of course, bitcoin supporters addressed the entry on social media and forums after the Type D filing for the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund was announced.

Holpop News

Bitcoin, Stablecoins and DeFi: top-performing crypto assets for 2020.

With fresh all-time highs, Bitcoin price edges closer to $ 30,000

How low could XRP go?

Bitcoin whale clusters define key levels of support for the rally to proceed.

Ledger data leak: A ‘simple mistake’ exposed 270K crypto wallet buyers.

Bitcoin supremacy reaches 1-year high in the aftermath of XRP sell-off as $24K returns momentarily

For banks and traditional institutions that provide support for digital properties, compliance and laws are becoming more relevant than ever before.

If ETH does not bounce fast, Ether’s market weakness in its Bitcoin pair is poor news for altcoins.

Bitcoin headed for Christmas volatility as 100K BTC options expire.

Billion-Dollar Wealth Manager Skybridge Capital Plans to Launch a Bitcoin Fund

Archive for December 2020