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Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Taps New ATH Above 80T 2 Months Ahead of BTC Halving

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With roughly just two months left until the fourth halving reduces the BTC production supply by half, miners seem to be operating on a high level on the largest blockchain.

The Bitcoin mining difficulty metric increased by more than 8% yesterday and soared to a new all-time high, while the hash rate has slightly declined since its peak earlier this month.

Difficulty Grows by 8%

The Bitcoin mining difficulty is among the most important features of the BTC blockchain. It readjusts every 2,016 blocks (about two weeks) depending on the mining power. In other words, when there are more miners putting their computational devices to work on the Bitcoin blockchain, the difficulty increases, making it harder for them to mine new BTC in order to preserve the block production ratio and vice versa.

The metric has been rising steadily for the past several years, showing no signs of miners’ capitulation despite the Chinese ban on everything crypto and the painful bear market in 2022 and 2023.

In fact, the mining difficulty has quadrupled since February 2021, when it hovered around 20T. Data from BitInfoCharts shows the latest increase when it came yesterday of 8.2%. It took the mining difficulty to a new all-time high of over 81T.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty. Source: BitInfoCharts
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty. Source: BitInfoCharts

As mentioned above, this showcases the network robustness, which is particularly interesting to follow given the upcoming halving. As reported yesterday, speculations arose that the hash rate could go down ahead of the event as some miners might unplug their machines from the blockchain.

There are some signs that this could be the case, as the BTC hash rate (currently at 550 Ehash/s) is already down by 15% since its ATH of over 650 Ehash/s registered at the beginning of the month.

BTC Price Update

The mining difficulty is not the only part of the Bitcoin landscape that has been increasing lately. BTC’s price has been on a roll for the past ten days, jumping by nearly $10,000.

This resulted in breaking out of its $43,000 resistance and soaring past $50,000 for the first time in over two years. Furthermore, the cryptocurrency kept going further and neared $53,000 yesterday to chart a new peak.

Nevertheless, the rally was halted at this point as BTC couldn’t breach that level. As of now, the asset stands close to $52,000 and is up by 10% over the past week.

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BTC Price Rises Above $105K After Fed Decision, LINK Up 7% Daily (Market Watch)

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Bitcoin’s price experienced some expected volatility after yesterday’s FOMC meeting but has headed north and now sits above $105,000.

Most altcoins are in a similar position, with ETH increasing past $3,200 and SOL rising to $240.

BTC Above $105K

The primary cryptocurrency had a quiet weekend in which its price stood mostly in a tight range between $104,000 and $105,000. The landscape changed on Monday, similar to the previous one when the bears took charge of the market and initiated a substantial leg down.

Within hours during the morning Asian trading session, BTC plunged by several grand to a multi-week low of under $98,000. Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency didn’t stay there for long and went back into six-digit territory by the end of the day.

The next couple of days were a lot less eventful, aside from another brief decline toward $100,000. The market anticipated the Fed’s decision on Wednesday evening, and bitcoin stood still. Once the expected decision of no interest rate cuts was announced, BTC headed south by over a grand from $103,000 to $101,500.

However, it bounced off and has added roughly $4,000 since then to trade at $105,500 as of press time. Its market capitalization has neared $2.1 trillion on CG, while its dominance over the alts is well above 56%.

BTCUSD. Source: TradingView
BTCUSD. Source: TradingView

LINK Jumps 7%

Most alternative coins have followed BTC on the way up. Ethereum defended the $3,000 level and now sits above $3,200 following a 3% daily increase. Similar price jumps are evident from SOL, ADA, and TRX.

Chainlink has gained 6.5% on the day and now trades close to $25. Even more impressive gains come from the likes of SIU, LTC, HYPE, and ONDO.

The cumulative market cap of all crypto assets had added more than $100 billion in a day. As a result, the metric sits above $3.710 trillion on CG.

Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto
Cryptocurrency Market Overview. Source: QuantifyCrypto
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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How High Could Bitcoin Go in This Bull Cycle? Analyst Weighs In

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TL;DR

  • Analyst Ali Martinez suggests Bitcoin (BTC) has more room for growth during this bull run before a potential cycle shift.
  • Essential factors like reduced MVRV and negative exchange netflows support the thesis of further gains in the near future.

The Possible Cycle Top

The primary cryptocurrency has been on an evident uptrend in the past several months, charting substantial gains after Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential elections.

Recall that Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at less than $70K prior to the voting, whereas a month later, it surpassed the psychological level of $100K for the first time in its existence. Despite the volatility, the solid performance continued, and on January 20 (hours before Trump’s inauguration), the asset tapped a new all-time high of almost $110,000. The next 10 days offered more turbulence before BTC stabilized at its current $105,000 (per CoinGecko’s data).

BTC Price
BTC Price, Source: CoinGecko

According to numerous industry participants, the valuation has yet to reach unseen peaks during this bull cycle. The popular X user Ali Martinez recently suggested that BTC could soar to as high as $184,000 before entering a bearish mode. He based his prediction on the assumption that cycle shifts typically occur once the price surpasses 2.4x the 200-day Simple Moving Average (which is set at the depicted mark). 

Many factors signal that BTC might indeed flourish in the following months. One of those includes the asset’s historical performance in February. As CryptoPotato reported, 8 of the last 12 Februaries saw BTC jumping by double digits. It is important to note that next month is a post-halving February, and all previous ones have resulted in impressive spikes. 

Bitcoin’s Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) and exchange netflow are also worth mentioning. The former metric has been hovering below the healthy level of 2.5 over the last several days, suggesting that the asset might have shifted toward undervalued territory.

BTC’s exchange netflow has been predominantly negative in the past week, with outflows surpassing inflows. This could be interpreted as a transition from centralized platforms toward self-custody methods, which reduces the immediate selling pressure. 

Additional Bullish Predictions

Martinez is not the only one envisioning further pumps for BTC in the near future. X user Captain Faibik observed the formation of a “broadening wedge pattern” to set a $120,000 target potentially reached in February. 

Michael van de Poppe and Jelle were also bullish. The former thinks a new ATH may occur in the coming weeks, while the latter believes $110K is “the final hurdle” before “a new leg of price discovery awaits.”

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Fed Chair Calls for Crypto Regulation, Warns Banks Against ‘Excess Risk Aversion’

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“I do think it would be helpful if there were a greater regulatory apparatus around crypto,” the US central bank chair said at the Federal Open Market Committee press conference on Jan. 29. He added that it is something Congress and the Fed have been “working on quite a lot.”

“We’ve actually spent a lot of time, you know, with House Financial Services, working together with them on various things, and I think that would be a very constructive thing for Congress to do,” he said.

The comments came as the Federal Reserve maintained interest rates at 4.25% to 4.5% following last week’s CPI data that showed inflation was not as high as many anticipated.

Don’t Debank Crypto Customers

Powell also said the central bank was “not against innovation” with regard to cryptocurrencies.

Speaking about banking restrictions, he added, “We certainly don’t want to take actions that would cause banks to, you know, terminate customers who are perfectly legal just because of excess risk aversion, maybe related to regulation and supervision.”

Powell’s remarks at the first FOMC meeting under the Trump administration came as concerns about so-called “debanking” efforts have risen to the highest ranks of government.

“Banks are perfectly able to serve crypto customers, as long as they understand and can manage the risks, and it’s safe and sound,” Powell said before adding, “The threshold has been a little higher for banks engaging in crypto activities, and that’s because they’re so new.”

He noted that individual investors needed better protection as the risks may not be fully understood. He also compared crypto to stocks and mutual funds, saying that similar consumer safeguards should apply.

No Disagreements With Trump

The central bank chair has avoided responding directly to comments made or actions taken by Donald Trump in recent weeks. He said there has been “no contact” with the new president, noting that disagreements would undermine the Fed’s credibility.

“We stand ready to take appropriate action to support the smooth transmission of monetary policy, including adjusting the details of our approach for reducing the size of our balance sheet in light of economic and financial developments,” he said.

More economic data is expected this week, with fourth-quarter GDP Growth Annualized advance estimates due on Thursday and December’s Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report due on Friday.

Crypto markets were up marginally during the Thursday morning Asian trading session, with Bitcoin leading the pack and reclaiming $105,000.

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