After nearly a month of struggling to break past the $7,000 range, Bitcoin’s price has finally reached a new level and began trading over $7,300. As shown by market statistics, the increase in price was made possible by an increased interest in trading the coin and an overall bullish sentiment at cryptocurrency exchanges. And as current signals hint, Bitcoin’s new range may be here to stay.
One possible factor for the positive change in price could be news of MasterCard’s plans to introduce cryptocurrency transactions in its technology. Like CNBC reports, this Tuesday MasterCard won a patent for a technology that would allow the management of “fractional reserves” of blockchain cryptocurrencies.
MasterCard’s plans were revealed in a public document from the Patent and Trademark Office in the US where both the concerns and benefits of cryptocurrency transactions were detailed. For the time being, it is unclear whether MasterCard would ever introduce a cryptocurrency option, but if it does it could significantly speed up cryptocurrency transaction and further validate the notion that blockchain currencies are a valid form of payment.
Buying Pressure Rises
After its price dropped to $6,300 last Wednesday, Bitcoin failed to climb to a higher level for the remainder of the week. However, a sudden jump upwards took the price way over this point on Tuesday, helping it to climb even more and reach a new peak of $7,493.93 in the early morning hours today. The price increase seems to be directly correlated to an increase in 24-hour volume, which doubled from being near $3 billion to reaching $6.33 billion today. Bitcoin’s market capitalization also saw an increase during this period and reached a value of $127 billion at the moment of writing.
Our technical analysis shows that the market is in a bullish mood, with 7 out of 12 oscillators and 11 out of 12 moving averages being in the green zone, signaling a buying trend. The SMA 100 is over the SMA 200 on this time-frame, showing there’s less resistance on the upward course. However, as shown by the curve drawn on the weekly chart, the price push seems to be restricted to $7,700. If Bitcoin breaks beyond this level, we could be looking at a further increase. So, keep your eyes on the market and stay tuned for any changes because the bulls running the show now could get tired.
Kodak’s Mining Scheme in Ruins
In other news, the cryptocurrency mining plan that was to see Kodak-branded miners being rented to users across the globe has officially collapsed, Forbes reports. On Monday evening, the company that was to help Kodak realize the mining scheme, Spotlite USA, confirmed that the program has failed, adding another blow to the cryptocurrency mining community.
Kodak first revealed its branded mining rigs at a tech conference in Vegas in January 2018. The original plan was to release mining rigs that could be rented to people by Spotlite for a price tag of $3,400 for a full two years. The expected return from renting the rigs was to be $375 per month. However, as Bitcoin’s price fell significantly since the start of the year, the chance of turning a profit by renting mining equipment was also drastically diminished.
As estimated by Forbes, Bitcoin’s price would need to reach an average of $28,000 over the two year period for the rent to be considered profitable. But since it showed little signs that it would go that high, it led to the official closure of the program. Nevertheless, Bitcoin’s price still grew upwards today, despite yet another negative report on Bitcoin mining.