Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple's XRP, And EOS Soar As Markets Add $12 Billion–Here's Why

Bitcoin bears have been in retreat this week as crypto bulls send the bitcoin and wider cryptocurrency market higher by some $12 billion in less than 48 hours, potentially ending six months of consecutive losses and bitcoin’s longest losing streak since 2014.

The bitcoin price has soared from under $3,600 per bitcoin on Sunday to almost $3,900 today, according to the latest prices from the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.

Ethereum rival EOS has led the gains, adding around 25% over the last two days as ethereum rose almost 10%, along with similar gains for Ripple’s XRP.

The bitcoin market has remained locked in a long-running bear market so far this year, but many hope it may soon end.Getty

A rise in the ethereum price sparked the minor bull run on Sunday as traders and investors look towards the delayed Constantinople upgrade to the ethereum network.

The upgrade, which is expected to speed up processing times, improve the way the network monetizes data storage, and reduce mining rewards from three to two, is ethereum’s eighth hard fork and part of its move to a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm later this year, from the more energy intensive proof-of-work it currently uses.

“It seems a short-term recovery is in sight as strong momentum has been gained in the crypto market over the last 24 hours. Ethereum’s led the charge with a double-digit surge but many other major crypto players including bitcoin and XRP have followed suit,” said Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at broker eToro in a note to clients yesterday.

“These optimistic price movements, combined with a strong volume of approximately $27 billion in the market, may well suggest that the long-awaited bull market is not far away. Still, until bitcoin sees a strong breakout above the psychological level of $5,000, the longest bear market in crypto’s short history continues,” Greenspan added.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency volume has this month reached its highest levels since May last year as bitcoin transactions approach their all-time highs, according to CoinMarketCap data.

The bitcoin price jumped higher on Sunday after trading sideways for most of 2019.Coindesk

Despite bitcoin’s on-going 13-month bear market some of bitcoin’s biggest supporters and cheerleaders last week predicted a return to the heady days of 2017.

“As far as I’m concerned, bitcoin has won the race to be digital gold,” Digital Currency Group and Grayscale Investments chief executive Barry Silbert told CNBC. “[I’m] as bullish as [I’ve] ever been.”

Meanwhile, long-time bitcoin bull and Galaxy Digital Holdings founder Mike Novogratz has predicted institutional money should start to flow into cryptocurrencies within the next year, which he expects will trigger the next bitcoin price rally.

“A small amount of institutional assets is a lot of money,” Novogratz told the Bloomberg newswire service, predicting the bitcoin price will rise to $8,000 within the next 12 months.

The bitcoin price bear market, labeled “crypto winter” for its debilitating effect on the nascent industry, has seen some $400 billion wiped from the value of the world’s cryptocurrencies as investors get cold feet, worrying that long-awaited institutional investment and mainstream adoption will fail to materialize.

Ethereum rival EOS led the field higher, as bitcoin, Ripple’s XRP and litecoin climb.CoinMarketCap

Some have also suggested that major U.S. bank J.P. Morgan’s announcement last week that it’s developing its own private cryptocurrency to speed up and reduce the costs of international transfers has also added support for bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices.

source: forbes.com