The price of Bitcoin is soaring and breaking out from one range after another, bringing a great closure to one of the most challenging years in its short history. Only past week Bitcoin managed to break out from the $800 range on the back of increased global interest while its future path was still tough to call, especially when you considered its previous bursts of instability.
But while most traders might have expected another minor push upwards, only a rare (very optimistic) few surely expected an increase of over $130 dollars in a single week. With such a monumental surge, which isn’t at all strange for the cryptocurrency, the investment world is once again buzzing as to what keeps driving the price upwards.
Some say the world is changing its perspective on the digital currency, especially investors interested in big profits, while others claim that the instability of traditional currency and the insecurity brought by geo-political events is to blame. Whatever the cause, it’s hard not to feel excited, especially if you have your own Bitcoin stash at home.
Bitcoin at $940 on Massive Volume; More to Come?
Despite the holiday weekend, things have not been quiet for the world of Bitcoin, where a major boost was brought on pre-Christmas when on Friday the price started breaking out of the $850 zone only to top $900 the next day, December 24th. Christmas day, normally, was marked with a pause in interest, during which a $20 short drop was noted, but since then things have only been going up.
It seems that the holiday season stirred a global interest, pushing the volume from its usual range of $100,000,000 million to double of that pre-Christmas day. And after a brief pause on Sunday, the interest was revived and trading volume started climbing rapidly to the current $199,266,000. The market cap, on the other hand, is at $15.3 billion.
Our technical analysis shows that the market is, unsurprisingly, leaned towards buying, with 6 out of 12 technical oscillators and all 12 moving overages sending a buying signal. However, all is not well, as 5 oscillators, including the Stochastic and Williams %R, are already at the “overbought” range. The gap between the SMA 100 and 200 is also starting to narrow, hinting at a possible change of trends.
With the current stance, it seems unlikely that a major reversal is coming, although this isn’t something strange for Bitcoins. At the time, the market winds show that buyers still have a firm grip on the trading winds, which should keep the price from rolling down fast. However, a close watch is advised, as the situation has been known to change rapidly.
Is Bitcoin Better Than Gold?
The Bitcoin price and market charts are through the roof this week, with little signs of the price stopping anytime soon. But while this is something to be applauded, it once again brought stories of concern about the “stability” of Bitcoins.
Only in August, the price was struggling to break out of the $560 range in the aftermath of the Bitfinex hack, while 4 months later it is beyond $940. And while Bitcoins have been surging, other risk assets like gold haven’t had such impressive spikes, but have actually lost value. This had lead many to wonder whether Bitcoins are better than gold, the answer to which, according to some experts, is no.
Namely, the traditional investment world is concerned when it comes to investing in assets with such volatility, although nobody denies that there’s a possibility of turning significant profits by trading Bitcoins.