Bitcoin rose above $50k earlier today as the bulls made further inroads. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization had another slightly bullish last 48 hours as the index first dropped and then rose strongly above the key resistance. Altcoins on the other hand were largely steady and didn’t respond that well to Bitcoin’s big move. More on that later on.
In other news, Bitcoin beat conventional assets like stocks and commodities to become the best performing asset of 2021. The cryptocurrency has risen over 50% from the start of the calendar year’s position and is continuing its steep appreciation. More on that later on.
The Bank of America has praised the NFT and DeFi sectors and has stated that they will likely be relevant in the long-term. The bank’s subsidiary Bofa Securities released the detailed report titled Digital Assets Primer: Only the First Inning that discussed the disruptive behaviour of the digital economy and its large gains during the past year or so. The report states that despite the volatility around the sector, it will remain viable for years to come. Apart from BoA, other banks are also bullish on the digital currency economy. Recently, the U.S. Bank, the fifth largest in the country, has announced a crypto custodial service in partnership with the NYDIG.
A Canadian Bitcoin mining firm named Link Global is now facing a massive $5.6 million fine in the country. The company which is listed in Canada as a security is now facing regulatory action following accusations of it operating private power plants to drive its mining equipment. Based in Alberta, Canada, the company is being sued by the local power distributor and has slapped several penalties on it which amount to this massive figure. A new bill has been introduced into the United States House of Representatives that aims to provide regulatory clarity for digital tokens. The bill titled “Clarity for Digital Tokens Act of 2021” is being introduced in the House Financial Services Committee for discussion but there is no indication whether it will make it through.
Bitcoin Rises Above $50k
Bitcoin is currently trading at around $50.7k at press time which represents an increase of around 4.5% from Late Sunday’s levels. The digital currency went below briefly on Monday but has since been bullish and is eyeing key resistance levels.
The last 24 hours started with the index at around $48.8k. The cryptocurrency then proceeded to trade sideways for a while. At 4:30 PM on Monday, the index began to drop. It reached a minimum level of around $47k before it recovered sharply and has traded above that level ever since. At first, it went above $49k at 7 PM and then traded sideways around this level for some time. At 10:30 AM in the morning today, the index began to increase once again. It went above $50k and has traded largely above that level ever since. Near press time, another uptick is being witnessed and the index is now close to $51k.
Going forward, Bitcoin is now looking increasingly bullish as it has successfully defended lower support levels in September and has come out unharmed. But, even as the index rises above $50k, the key resistance at around $52k still remains. Last time around, the digital currency couldn’t go above that level and shrank back. Now, the bulls are once again knocking on the doors. The stats are stronger this time around so we can expect the resistance to give way, even if for a short-term gain.
The total market capitalization of Bitcoin was around $960 billion and its shares of the proceedings was 43.26% signifying increasing dominance of the premier cryptocurrency.
Altcoins Flat in Face of Bitcoin Gains
Other cryptocurrencies aka altcoins mostly remained flat or shed some value in the face of decent Bitcoin gains. There were, however, some anomalies as Dogecoin (DOGE, 14%) rose strongly above $0.26 and Shiba Inu underwent a massive pump and rose a whopping 53%. Other altcoins were largely stagnant and couldn’t break free.
In Other News…..
Bitcoin Now Best Performing Asset of 2021
Bitcoin has overtaken various legacy assets to become the best investment of 2021 till date according to stats cited by New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). The premier cryptocurrency has risen by roughly 52% since the start of the year and that has been overall better than most top stocks.
Here is yesterday’s performance as compared to other assets:
Image Source: NYDIG
Most of the conventional sector saw a big rise in levels back in 2020 due to the pandemic-induced investment trend but now it seems to have subsided. Only Bitcoin has survived that.