It sometimes seems that the rising trend of Bitcoin’s price will hardly ever stop thanks to the global surge in interest the world’s most popular cryptocurrency has been seeing since the beginning of the year. While this time last year, Bitcoin could hardly touch $1,000, nowadays it has even surpassed the $6,400 mark – an impressive feat that probably only a few true believers thought was achievable.
The continuous growth has been commonly attributed to a combination of positive factors, like the recognition the cryptocurrency has received in Japan and other large markets, or the rising interest from high-profile financial experts and companies. However, according to Forbes, there has also been another factor that many may have overlooked – the impressive growth of ICO campaigns.
Namely, according to the financial media house, during Q1 of 2017 alone ICO Campaigns have been able to raise over $1.2 billion, most of which has been in Bitcoin. And with Bitcoin being the predominant asset powering these campaigns (it even powered Ethereum’s crowd-funding), as ICOs continue to expand and more digital currencies are introduced to operate them, Bitcoin’s price will likely keep growing, Forbes’ commentator Bart Chilton believes.
Buyers Still Hold Market
During the past week, the price of Bitcoin continued growing steadily after reaching the $5,500 mark to eventually see a bump during Sunday. Its lowest point of $5,726.85 was reached last Thursday while the highest the price climbed was yesterday, on Tuesday, when it reached $6,438.04.
Tied to the Sunday price boost was also a surge in trading volume, which jumped from $1.9 billion in the afternoon to even $2.7 billion during the evening. Present numbers show that volume is once again on the rise following its Sunday decline, with the current number being $2.6 billion while the market cap is at a record $107.7 billion.
Our market analysis hints at a further price growth, as 6 out of 12 oscillators and 8 out of 12 moving averages are sending buying signals. The SMA 100 is safely above the SMA 200 on this time-frame, indicating there is less resistance to the upward course.
However, keep in mind that short-term signals indicate a predominantly selling mood, which if continues could take over the market and cause the price to change course. As always, keep your eyes out for any changes, especially during the weekend.
Bitcoin Futures Push Price Up and Trigger Fears
Another obvious factor driving the price up last week was CME’s announcement that they will be launching a Bitcoin futures market before year’s and. CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange & Chicago Board of Trade) is one of the main US financial markets companies that run the largest global futures exchange. Their latest announcement has been met with great enthusiasm from Bitcoin investors, who believe that a futures market will open the door for institutional investors and even a Bitcoin ETF.
However, as CNBC reports, not everyone is feeling enthusiastic about seeing a Bitcoin futures market. According to Joe Saluzzi from Themis Trading, Wall Street innovators are not really aware of the complex nature of Bitcoin. Saluzzi feels that just like the mortgages during the mortgage crisis, Bitcoin’s price can be hard to determine, which can potentially lead to serious risks on the market.
Moreover, Saluzzi thinks that CME’s approval will cause an increase in Bitcoin ETFs, which would take the cryptocurrency out of its normal trading place – exchanges – and put it into the mainstream investment world where traders are not really aware of the risk, thus making room for potential manipulations and a possible crisis.