Indicators point to an accelerating pace of Bitcoin replacing Gold in investor portfolios

According to a Bloomberg Intelligence report released this week, the dominant cryptocurrency Bitcoin is swiftly working its way up to become the new digital gold. This is evident in a chart showing the performances of both assets in which bitcoin has patently been outperforming the metallic asset.

Bitcoin over the years has been gaining more recognition as investors have flocked to the digital asset. “Bitcoin in 2021 is transitioning from a speculative risk asset to a global digital store-of-value”, said the Bloomberg report dating March 2021.

Ending last month on a price of $45,000, the cryptocurrency has since moved past $54,000 in March as at the time of writing. For context, gold which was around US$1,859 per ounce at the start of last month has gone down to US$1,700 per ounce.

The CEO of Microstrategy also chimed in, affirming satirically that Bitcoin was indeed taking over. “The Bitcoin Dragon is devouring the Kingdom of Gold.” He tweeted.

The Bloomberg report which speculated the crypto remaining in the $40,000 to $60,000 threshold would most likely attract responsive buyers at the rate of US$40,000 and increasing demand with a mix of limited supply over time is bound to influence a surge in the value of the currency to $100,000 in 2021.

Recent developments have confirmed the likelihood of this prediction coming about as Tesla – the world’s largest automaker by Market Cap – has shown a growing interest in the digital asset reserve, MicroStrategy stating its support for the currency, Square mentioning that bitcoin sales contributed most to its revenue source the past year, and Meitu, Inc. purchasing Bitcoin worth US$17.9 million for its treasury. The interests from these business giants are capable of influencing an increase in the price of the cryptocurrency and facilitating its acceptability in the global markets, against Gold, which is fast becoming a weak rival.

The inflation concerns in the past week have influenced the fall of most assets, including stocks. Nonetheless, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have remained steady — strangely flat.

Last month, the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen backed the idea of digital dollar research in a New York Times conference, as opposed to the opinion of Steve Mnuchin – her predecessor. Citigroup alongside other investment banking giants has noted that bitcoin is potentially taking over, stating that the digital asset could be “the currency of choice”.

On the other hand, the metallic liege lord keeps getting hammered down as a result of the increasing interest rates in the United States as well as its prices struggling in Indian markets.

Noting all these, it is not out of place to predict the potential dominance of Bitcoin in global markets, overthrowing the despotism of the metallic king.

Read more: ZyCrypto

Analysis: If History Repeats, Bitcoin Price Will Never Go Below $10,000

If history is any indicator, Bitcoin’s price should never again go below the $10,000 level.

An important technical indicator reveals that, if history is anything to go by, Bitcoin’s price shouldn’t go back below $10,000 ever again.

And while it seems like we’re a very long way from this mark right now, it’s important to keep things in perspective. After all, BTC was trading below this level less than 7 months ago.

Bitcoin Price Shouldn’t Go Back Below $10,000.
Bitcoin’s price has been on a face-melting bull run throughout the past couple of months. In fact, the last time it was trading below $10,000 was back at the beginning of September 2020 – about 7 months ago.

Now, one of the more popular analysts and bitcoin commentators, as well as a well-known proponent of the cryptocurrency, Carl ‘The Moon’ Runefelt, explained in one of his recent YouTub videos the reason he thinks bitcoin’s price will never go back below $10,000. At least, if history is any indicator, of course.

The Moon explains that this MA “seems to be the line of last support.”

Image by VIN JD from Pixabay
Image by VIN JD from Pixabay

“Tho HODLers are defending these levels and we can’t break it. We’re not able to break it. This means that […] currently the 200 WMA is at $10,000. So, logically, this means that the Bitcoin price can never again go below $10,000.”

Bitcoin’s Ascending History
Looking at the above chart from Bitstamp, we can clearly see that the price for Bitcoin has been trending upwards in the long-term, and there hasn’t been a point where the 200 WMA has been on a descending slope since it started showing data mid-2015.

There were a few attempts to breach the 200 WMA, but all of them were ultimately unsuccessful. Even in March 2020, when the price collapsed throughout the Covid-induced global pandemic and markets tanked, Bitcoin ultimately didn’t close a weekly candle below the 200 WMA.

The other two occasions when the price dropped to this level were back in August 2015 when we saw the famous “capitulation candle,” when BTC price took one last dive below $200 and subsequently fired up the bull market of 2017. The other occasion was the bottom of that bull market in December 2018.

In general, Bitcoin’s market has been cyclic. This is an entirely psychological phenomenon where the market goes through different stages, ultimately resulting in cycles. Of course, things can change, but the key here is the assumption that Bitcoin goes up overtime against the USD.

Most recently, Bitcoin is regaining its momentum following a push to $54K after a notable correction and a few days of indecisiveness. Its total market capitalization, at the time of this writing, sits above $1 trillion, which is definitely a huge milestone to consider.

Read more: CryptoPotato

Fund Manager Bashes Bitcoin: An Extreme Form of Libertarian Anarchism

As Bitcoin price makes headlines across mainstream and financial media, skeptics of cryptocurrencies have come out of the woodwork in droves.

The latest skepticism comes from Tim Bond, partner and portfolio manager at Odey Asset Management, who claims that Bitcoin has very little benefit to society, and instead is an extreme form of Libertarian anarchism. But could there actually be truth in the bold, blanket statement?

Tim Bond Bashes Bitcoin As Pointless, Vile, And Damaging To The Environment
Bitcoin is a subject that most economists, tech enthusiasts entrepreneurs, and fund managers alike are asked about these days, as the asset has ballooned from under $10,000 to more than $50,000 per coin in less than one year.

Depending on who you ask, it is the most important technological revolution since the internet, while others might claim it is a bubble wait to burst.

Tim Bond, fund manager at Odey Asset Management, instead calls it “particularly vile,” “pointless,” and “damaging to the environment.”

Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay
Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

Bond claims that Bitcoin isn’t only emitting more CO2 than most small economies, but that it is spearheading “a particularly extreme form of libertarian anarchism,” which he says is why the cryptocurrency is so popular amongst Silicon Valley types.

“If bitcoin starts to displace fiat currencies [government-issued currency that is not backed by a commodity], governments’ ability to tax, spend and redistribute will be severely impaired,” Bond continued.

Crypto Anarchist Future Prefers Consensus Over Forced Taxation
Bond, however, is absolutely right about at least one thing: Bitcoin could severely impact a “governments’ ability to tax, spend and redistribute” – a system that is arguably broken already.

Governments like the United States establish control over society through their money, and without that leverage, society won’t be as compelled to comply with taxation and other forms of control.

While much of this infrastructure was designed for the benefit of civilized society, governments have abused this control and how they redistribute wealth is a major ongoing economic problem that only Bitcoin has the potential to fix.

Read more: NEWSBTC

Bitcoin Spikes to 2-Week High Above $54K: ETH Tops $1800 (Market Watch)

With bitcoin reaching a new 2-week high and ETH passing by $1,800, the crypto market cap has added $130 billion in a day.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization has reclaimed the coveted $1 trillion level after the asset surged by 8% to about $54,000. Most alternative coins are well in the green as well, and the entire market cap has expanded by $130 billion since yesterday’s low.

BTC Taps $54K
Following a few days of sideways trading and flirting with the $50,000 price tag, BTC has finally spiked well above that line. The bulls took charge during the latest drop to $49,000 as reported yesterday and drove the cryptocurrency north.

In the following hours, bitcoin added more than $4,000 of value and reached $54,500 (on Bitstamp). This became the asset’s highest price tag since February 22nd – just as the sharp retracement had started following the all-time high above $58,000.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Although it has retraced slightly since then, bitcoin is still up by about 8% in the past 24 hours. With its substantial increase, BTC’s market capitalization topped $1 trillion once again after a few weeks-long hiatus.

Interestingly, bitcoin’s gains came amid the turbulence on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed in the red on Monday, but the futures contracts painted gains in after-hours trading as Treasury yields fell from the recent highs.

A Sea of Green for the Alts
Most of the alternative coins have followed their leader in the past 24 hours with impressive gains. Ethereum leads the pack with an 8% increase. As a result, the second-largest cryptocurrency has reclaimed another milestone on its way up – $1,800.

Binance Coin and Ripple have added about 4% of value to $240 and $0.48, respectively. Cardano and Uniswap have painted minor increases, while Polkadot (5%) and Chainlink (9%) have gone above $35 and $31.

Even more impressive price increases are evident from lower- and mid-cap altcoins. Chiliz is the undisputed leader with a 100% surge since yesterday and 380% in the past seven days to $0.27.

On a 24-hour scale, Terra (27%), NEAR Protocol (25%), Quant (25%), Theta Fuel (22%), Hedera Hashgraph (20%), SwissBorg (17%), THETA (16%), Decentraland (16%), and UMA (15%) follow.

In total, the cumulative market capitalization of all cryptocurrency assets has surged from $1.540 trillion to $1.670 trillion in a day. Moreover, the market cap is up by $230 billion in the past five days.

Read more: CyptoPotato

Ethereum NFT of Burned Banksy Piece Sells for $380,000

An original Banksy piece that was recently burned by a group of crypto enthusiasts and tokenized as an NFT has sold for 228.69 ETH.

A group of crypto enthusiasts burned an original copy of Banksy’s “Morons” and listed the artwork in an NFT auction last week.
The NFT has sold for 228.69 ETH, worth over $380,000 at purchase.
The group said that they hoped to “inspire artists and explore a new medium of creative expression.”

Burned Banksy Gets Tokenized
An NFT of Banksy’s “Morons” has sold for 228.69 ETH, worth around $382,000 at purchase.

The original artwork was acquired by a group of crypto enthusiasts and burned on a live stream in Brooklyn last week. The purpose of the burning was to tokenize the piece as an NFT. The video’s host, who also burned the piece, said they hoped to “inspire artists and explore a new medium of creative expression.”

A bidder using the moniker GALAXY bought the NFT on OpenSea yesterday afternoon.

The piece depicts an auction for an art canvas that reads, “I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit.” Banksy produced the piece in 2006, and prints were initially sold at $500 each.

A 2007 edition of the piece sold for $84,494.79 (£60,480) in a Sotheby’s auction last year.

Cryptocurrency Art Gallery: Litecoin, Ether, Ripple, Bitcoin and Namecoin (Image: Namecoin/Flickr)
Cryptocurrency Art Gallery: Litecoin, Ether, Ripple, Bitcoin and Namecoin (Image: Namecoin/Flickr)

The piece was acquired by members of Injective Protocol and SuperFarm, who reportedly paid around $100,000. It came with a Certificate of Authenticity from Pest Control, Banksy’s official authenticator.

It’s the first time a genuine Banksy piece has appeared on-chain, as the NFT trend continues to snowball.

By tokenizing “Morons” on Ethereum, the group said they hoped to make a point that the art could live on even after destroying the physical copy. GALAXY is now the provable owner of the piece, and the record of their purchase is immutable. As the token is fungible, no-one else will be able to claim ownership until they decide to sell.

NFTs and Art Merge
The Banksy item is only the latest in a series of massive drops across the NFT space, which has now seen several major musicians making an entry.

EDM superstar Steve Aoki released his first collection on Nifty Gateway over the weekend, raking in around $3.4 million in the process. Last week, 3LAU raised a record-breaking $11.7 million from tokenizing his “Ultraviolet” album.

Kings of Leon also became the first band to release their album as an NFT this weekend. The event attracted a significant amount of press attention from the mainstream media and music world. Over 489 ETH has been traded on the collection with 16 hours to go. With ETH trading at almost $1,700 today, the sale is a lucrative move for U.S rock artists.

But arguably the biggest NFT event so far is the release of Beeple’s “The First 5,000 Days.”

The digital artist’s piece is on sale at Christie’s, with bidding at $3.75 million. The auction closes Thursday.

The hefty price tags that some NFTs fetch have led some to criticize the space. Many argue that the six-figure valuations are unsustainable. It’s difficult to say whether the bubble is about to burst. Still, NFTs offer provable scarcity in a similar way to Bitcoin, whose meteoric rise has stunned doubters time and again over the last decade.

Read more: Phemex

A Debt-Fuelled Economic Crisis & Bitcoin: What to Expect?

With so many bubbles blown by the Federal Reserve, “something will burst soon.”
BTC could become a genuine safe haven if some conditions were met.
After a possible selloff, people will run back towards bitcoin after any crisis has run its course.

It’s hard to shake the fact that bitcoin (BTC)’s ascent from one fresh all-time high to another in recent months has taken place amid a backdrop of a struggling global economy. The United States’ GDP infamously tanked by a record 32.9% in Q2 2020 and fell by 3.5% across 2020 as a whole, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected in June that the global economy would shrink by nearly 5% across the same period.

These are somber figures, yet some economists are suggesting that things could get even worse. Economists at the IMF recently warned that public and private debt — which were already rising in 2019 — could reach tipping point as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, crippling the global economy to the point where it can’t properly recover.

Meanwhile, the US might approve their new USD 1.9trn coronavirus relief package in the coming days.

Economists and analysts speaking to Cryptonews.com largely agree with this assessment, even if they disagree on the timeline involved in any debt- and coronavirus-fuelled economic crisis. And while some suggest that commodities such as gold and silver may benefit from any acute crisis, others claim that the bitcoin and cryptoasset markets will suffer, as people and businesses rush for liquidity (i.e. cash), as we already saw during a major market crash in March 2020.

Bitcoin (Image: Antana/CCBY-SA2)
Bitcoin (Image: Antana/CCBY-SA2)

Probabilities, not certainties
Most economic and financial experts appear to agree that some kind of debt-driven slump is approaching, although they tend to disagree on whether this is an inevitability or not.

“I think the crisis is inevitable and coming in the next [few] years,” said Michaël van de Poppe, a cryptocurrency trader and analyst.

“Overall private and public debt are going through the ceiling, while real estate and equity markets are accelerating fast and people are jumping around in euphoric emotions thinking that it will only go up even more. But, then the [US Treasury] yields are crawling upwards,” he added.

Yields on 10-year US Treasury bonds, which is considered to be a safe investment, revisited its one-year high of 1.6% this week, while Goldman Sachs estimates it might hit 1.9% this year as they “believe strong economic data will lead yields to resume their upward trajectory in the coming quarters.”

However, Société Genérale’s Albert Edwards wrote in a note, “the risk is growing that with so many bubbles blown by the [Federal Reserve] something will burst soon.”

However, for economist and author Peter Earle of the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), a looming debt- and spending-fuelled crisis isn’t completely unavoidable.

“In every moment economic, financial market, and social circumstances change, and thus the likelihood of a downturn changes. Even if all the economic ‘stars’ were aligned in a way that made a crisis, recession, or depression likely within a few months – whatever that means – a single Treasury policy change, Federal Reserve program, or some other influence could and probably would radically change the predicted scenario,” he told Cryptonews.com.

That said, Earle acknowledges that the US and wider international economy is exhibiting many disconcerting signs.

“The huge expansion of the US money supply in March and April of 2020 has had a highly stimulative effect in financial and asset prices […] There’s also an uncomfortable persistence in unemployment rates owing to the lockdowns. So clearly the economy is very hot in some ways and lukewarm in others,” he added.

Read more: cryptonews

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell On Why Bitcoin Price Could Reach $1 Million

Bitcoin has sparkled so far this year. The price of the digital coin is currently experiencing a price pull back at the $50K level and that speaks volumes about its performance. Many opinions are flying around the crypto space regarding Bitcoin’s next step as its impressive journey isn’t looking to stop any time soon.

Bitcoin has also seen a new wave of institutional influx as traditional financial institutions have taken more than a sudden interest in the cryptocurrency as the somewhat endless glow around the coin continues to shine.

Jesse Powell, Kraken CEO and co-founder has now stated that he believes the price of Bitcoin is “going to infinity. Mr. Powell made the comment when asked by reporters what his expectations were regarding Bitcoin.

According to Powell, Bitcoin fanatics firmly affirm that Bitcoin is going to be the world’s top currency. He added that Bitcoin’s market cap could basically equal that of the dollar as well as the euro or both of them combined.

“Of course you know we can only speculate. But when you measure it in terms of dollars you have to think it’s [Bitcoin] going to infinity,” Powell said. “And I think the true believers will tell you that it’s going all the way to the moon, to Mars, and eventually it would be the world’s currency,”

Powell also stated that Bitcoin has a very moderate chance to hit $1 million in the next 10 years, citing the rate at which the U.S. Government continues to print money as a major factor in Bitcoin’s quest to reach infinite numbers.

“I think people are increasingly looking to Bitcoin as a safe haven asset. They see it as a better version of gold, and something to protect them against all of this inflation that’s happening.”

The notion of Bitcoin being a safe haven asset had been solidified even more this year after multi-billion dollar financial corporations have labeled Bitcoin a hedge against market variations.

Powell tipped the presence of the young generation in the current crypto space as a factor that will help propel the digital coin to greater heights. The CEO of Kraken also made news back in December 2020 when he labeled the U.S fiat currency, as a “risky prospect” compared to BTC when in possession.

Read more: ZyCrypto

Bloomberg: Bitcoin Price Expected to Rise 100x an Ounce of Gold

A Bloomberg Intelligence report has analyzed the bitcoin market and its growing stature as the digital store of value. The report looked into various aspects of the top cryptocurrency, including its declining volatility, rising adoption, and growing inflow of funds from a traditional store of value assets such as gold, stocks, and bonds.

Bitcoin in 2021 is transitioning from a speculative risk asset to a global digital store-of-value, in a world going that way, in our view.

We see prudent diversification sustaining a rising tide in this price-discovery stage for nascent Bitcoin.

Bitcoin in this bull run has not just seen its price nearly triple from 2017 high but more importantly seen a massive adoption from institutions that are using it as a treasury reserve asset amid declining US Dollar value.

$100,000 Could Be Bitcoin’s Next Threshold
Bitcoin in 2021 has managed to surpass its earlier threshold of $50,000 price target and $1 trillion market cap that too only within two months of this year. With the rising demand vs. declining supply and an increasingly favorable macroeconomic environment, the report cites Bitcoin has matured as an asset class and could reach the $100,000 price threshold by the end of 2021.

Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

It’s unlikely there will ever be a Bitcoin equivalent that’s no one’s liability or project.

The report also cites that Bitcoin’s relative volatility is on a decline against gold and if the nascent digital asset continues to behave similarly, its volatility would be less than that of Amazon and other stocks in a couple of years. Bitcoin is gaining momentum entering the 60/40 mix partly due to when paired with gold the top cryptocurrency outperforms and has less risk than the S&P 500.

The report also cites that the current price volatility and selling come from majorly from retail traders and quite similar to the early 2017 selling pattern, however in the long run hodlers would outnumber these weak sellers.

Potential For Bitcoin Price to Stabilize Around 100x an Ounce of Gold
The current selling patterns and outflow of funds from stocks and the Gold market and if the trend continues the price of one Bitcoin is expected to rise 100X the price of an ounce of gold.

A potential path for the Bitcoin price is to stabilize around 100x an ounce of gold and for volatility to resume its downward trajectory.

The report analysis suggests that bitcoin price would continue to rise by 55X to 15X as supply diminishes after every block reward halving.

Read more: CoinGape

Kraken CEO Steadfast on Bitcoin ‘Going to Infinity’

Kraken CEO Jesse Powell thinks Bitcoin’s price is “going to infinity.”
He explained Bitcoin could be worth the market cap of all world currencies combined.
Powell, unphased by Bitcoin’s volatility, sees it as an effective long-term hedge against inflation.

Kraken CEO and co-founder Jesse Powell said he believes the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is “going to infinity,” when asked about his expectation by Bloomberg Technology’s Emily Chang.

“Of course you know we can only speculate. But when you measure it in terms of dollars you have to think it’s [Bitcoin] going to infinity,” Powell said. “And I think the true believers will tell you that it’s going all the way to the moon, to Mars, and eventually it would be the world’s currency,” he added.

Chang then asked Powell to clarify his answer in terms of a numeric amount. He reiterated that true believers in Bitcoin expect it to replace all the world’s currency. “So that means basically whatever the market cap of the dollar is, the euro; all of that combined is what Bitcoin could be worth,” he explained.

He added that a $1 million price level in the next 10 years was very reasonable.

Hedging Bets on Bitcoin
Powell said that the rate at which the U.S. continues to print money would be a factor in how soon BTC reaches his astronomical predictions.

Bitcoin mining (Image: Pixabay)
Bitcoin mining (Image: Pixabay)

“I think people are increasingly looking to Bitcoin as a safe haven asset,” he said. “They see it as a better version of gold, and something to protect them against all of this inflation that’s happening.” Powell singled out younger people in particular as taking notice of it.

Powell said as much when he appeared on Bloomberg Surveillance in December 2020. He asked rhetorically, “How do you justify not having bitcoin on your balance sheet with the kind of inflation that we’re seeing now in the market?”

He expressed that holding dollars seemed like a “risky prospect” compared to BTC, which he said is “finite, predictable, and even a greater store of value than something like gold.”

Unwavering Belief
Chang asked Powell whether BTC’s continuing volatility made him waver in his belief. “No, it doesn’t make me waver at all,” Powell promptly replied. He said the system had continued to prove itself over the past decade, as upgrades have made it more robust, and adoption has steadily increased.

He did however say that BTC was an inappropriate asset for speculators. “I think there are a lot of weak hands out there,” he said. “They come in and day trade. They don’t really understand the fundamentals of Bitcoin.” He said those investing in BTC should be prepared to hold for at least five years, to withstand short term volatility. “The price could move up and down 50% on any given day, and you have to have strong conviction to hold through that.”

Read more: beINcrypto

Bitcoin Projected to Rise Above $100,000 by 2022: Magnetic MG

Some analysts are calling for the Bitcoin price to reach as high as $150,000 in 2022.
Analysts believe the latest halving is helping to push the price up.
Institutional investments are helping provide mainstream legitimacy to BTC.

The incredible rise in the Bitcoin price and increased interest from financial companies have led to monumental projections for the asset in the coming months.

Bitcoin recently overtook the $50,000 mark again as its upward trajectory has been mostly unharmed by small dips and backslides. BTC was able to reach $52,600 on March 3 before retreating back under $50,000 on March 4.

Bitcoin has been on a successive streak of record shattering prices, setting an all-time high of $58,333 on Feb. 21. In trying to explain the reason for this price push, analysts have pointed to a number of factors, but specifically the last halving.

Bitcoin Bull Calls
William Quigley, managing director of Magnetic, told CNN Business that the past BTC halving has been key in the current bull run.

“What’s happened historically whenever that happens for between the next 12 and 18 month, Bitcoin can go up between 300% and 500%,” said Quigley.

The most recent halving happened in May 2020. There has been some skepticism that it may not have the same effect on the price as the previous halvings did.

This was seen after the second halving of July 2016. On the day of the halving the price was at $660 — 17 months later in December 2017 it hit a new high of $20,000.

If this trend and Quigley’s analysis are correct, hitting $100,000 or even above that is not impossible. We are already seeing this pump in the price and it’s only been less than a year since the halving happened.

Other Impacting Factors
While the halving may be having a strong impact on the price, there are other factors that go into pushing Bitcoin higher.

The interest and monetary investment of corporations into Bitcoin have been a major boost for the cryptocurrency. While actual cash injections like Tesla’s $1.5 billion purchase did help push the price, the media and spectacle around such events also contribute to interest and investment.

Nods towards acceptance and backing by other financial institutions have also helped. Goldman Sachs even recently announced that it will reopen its cryptocurrency trading desk.

Institutional hesitancy towards BTC has been one reason it has not succeeded in achieving mainstream acceptance in years previous. Banks and big financial houses cited its volatile nature when explaining why they did not consider it an asset class or valuable investment for itself or clients.

The recent change in tone by institutions could see a fundamental shift towards the acceptance that has so long been denied, along with an impressive price rise.

Read more: beINcrypto

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