Bitcoin at $15K is now bigger than PayPal, Coca-Cola, Netflix, Disney

Bitcoin surged from $190 billion to around $280 billion in recent months, surpassing some big-name companies, including banks, by market capitalization.

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            NOV 08, 2020

In early September of this year, the market capitalization of Bitcoin (BTC) was hovering at around $190 billion when the BTC price was hovering around $10,000.

In the past two months, however, the price of Bitcoin rose from to over $15,000. With it, the market cap of Bitcoin surged from $190 billion to around $280 billion. This now makes Bitcoin more valuable than most major U.S. companies.

The weekly price chart of Bitcoin. Source: TradingView.com (Click image for larger view)

Bitcoin is equivalent to the 18th largest commercial company in the U.S.

If Bitcoin’s valuation is compared to publicly-listed firms in the U.S., it would match the 18th biggest firm.

The 17th largest company in the U.S. is Home Depot with a market cap of $306 billion. Verizon falls behind it with a $242 billion valuation, leaving a large gap in between.

Since the market cap of Bitcoin is currently around $280 billion, it is larger than all of the companies in the U.S. outside of the top 17.

Companies that Bitcoin surpassed in recent months include some big names such as Netflix, PayPal, BofA, Coca-Cola, Salesforce and Disney.

Top companies in the U.S. by market capitalization. Source: Dogs of the Dow (Click image for larger view)

Bitcoin is still behind the three largest financial institutions in the U.S. by valuation, namely Visa, Mastercard and JPMorgan. For the top cryptocurrency to surpass all three, it would need to hit $23,000, or a market cap of $426 billion.

However, the price of BTC must reach somewhere around $120K for Bitcoin to catch up to Apple, the most valuable company in the world with a market cap of $2 trillion.

Investors becoming aware of Bitcoin's asymmetric risk-reward potential

Meanwhile, analysts anticipate BTC to rally throughout 2020 and in early 2021, expecting BTC to enter price discovery and hit new all-time highs.

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In 2017, Bitcoin reached a new record-high 15 months after the 2016 block reward halving. BTC saw its latest halving in May 2020, so the chances of a new peak in mid-2021 remain high based on historical cycles.

Over the long term, cryptocurrency investors and analysts say the perception of Bitcoin as a durable store of value would push its valuation.

Tyler Reynolds, a former Google and Morgan Stanley alumni, said the fixed supply of Bitcoin makes it compelling as a hedge against government spending. He wrote:

“As it’s currently shaping up, the next bull run will be led by BTC with the very narrative that OGs have been saying since 2011: Bitcoin’s hard supply cap makes it a durable SoV as governments devalue their fiat currencies to support unconstrained government spending.”

Other notable investors, such as the billionaire Wall Street hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones, called Bitcoin an ideal inflation play.

Bitcoin is particularly attractive to institutions because it could act as a hedge within a diversified portfolio but also give investors exposure to Bitcoin's asymmetric risk-reward potential.

The relatively low market cap of Bitcoin compared to companies like Visa and safe-haven assets such as gold indicate there is significant room for further growth in the next decade.

Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by Joseph Young.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

MicroStrategy CEO: Bitcoin Is Bringing Back The Thrill Of Saving Money

By Nick James – November 7, 2020

Over the last few years, the crypto industry has grown exponentially. There are currently thousands of crypto projects going on. However, Bitcoin still remains the top coin with the largest market cap. A lot of people love Bitcoin, and for good reasons.

For one, Bitcoin is bringing back the culture of saving. That’s according to Michael Saylor, CEO, and founder of MicroStrategy. Michael posted a tweet claiming that prior to Bitcoin, the culture of saving was dead because of political interference. Bitcoin is fixing that.

Saving For Future Value

Bitcoin has gained greatly in value over the last decade since its introduction. This makes BTC investment one of the smartest ways to save money that actually increases in value over time.

On the contrary, saving money in bank accounts in fiat form exposes one to the risks of inflation that ultimately affects the value of the fiat currency. That’s especially the case when governments print fiat currencies in large counts.

Safe Haven

Inflation has driven many smart people into the world of cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin has gained from the new money inflow courtesy of its status as the most prolific of the cryptocurrencies in the market.

Individuals with large amounts of money have moved to put their cash in BTC to avoid value deterioration due to inflation. Indeed, Bitcoin has become so popular in this sphere that people are already convinced that the crypto will one day replace Gold as the top-most asset respected as a credible store of value.

Fostering Freedom

Perhaps one huge point that Michael Saylor sought to make in his tweet is the fact that political interference and bureaucracy led to the destruction of the saving culture. The introduction of censorship laws that have progressively infringed upon the people’s freedoms and liberties has played a major role in driving away savers.

On the other hand, Bitcoin offers a fully decentralized financial system whereby no single entity has the power to put restrictions on or censor anyone else. Bitcoin promotes a rare sense of freedom, and that has endeared it to the people as a secure means of saving for the future without having to go conform to the increasingly defective traditional system. 

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Nick James and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Whales Stomp Crypto Market, Send Exchanges Into “Danger Zone”

By Adrian Klent – November 6, 2020

New on-chain analytical data from CryptoQuant is hinting that Bitcoin whales have stomped the market. Usually, the arrival of Bitcoin whales is received with skepticism and this time is no different, especially as the Bitcoin rally has surged increasingly over the past week, to now keep Bitcoin up at the higher ends of $15,000. Particularly $15,633 at the time of this writing.

As we all know, cryptocurrency exchanges are the backbone of the market and any threat to the market could potentially affect Bitcoin’s price point and according to this new analysis, spot exchanges are entering a “danger zone.”

It appears that the arrival of these whales, which have been excessively depositing Bitcoin into the market, had an effect on the exchange inflow mean that is now above 2BTC, ($30,000+ according to the current market price), this is said to be a very critical area for the market.

Over the past week, analysts have been critiquing Bitcoin’s bull run, and some have speculated that the pump is coming from whales who may not be able to sustain the market. With this analysis establishing that there’s indeed a pump from the big dogs, Bitcoin whales and traders might hold onto their Bitcoins until the price point hits the peak and sell once investors are forced to pull out of the market if and when the bulls get hit by a strong price rejection.

In an updated tweet, the analyst is stating that the anticipated dump may not be as severe afterall, instead the analyst rephrases and says that:

“We might have small $BTC drops but In the long run, we’re safe from mass-dumping.

The 90-day moving average of the Exchange Whale Ratio is still low.”

Adding that he’s still bullish on Bitcoin, the analyst reaffirmed that it was necessary to try to avoid a whale dump regardless.

Whale dumps usually hit the Bitcoin market hard and most times lead to a bear market. At this point, the whales will begin to cash out and the long term players will be left to deal with the losses.

Again, as analysts have advised on several occasions, buying the dip is more than likely to pay off. However, the big picture which is Bitcoin has been in the spotlight for a while now. After making a sharp market climb to $15,000, it seems like Bitcoin might only need another 24hours or less to make a price jump to $16,000.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Adrian Klent and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Inches Closer to $15k as BTC Dominance Decimates Altcoins

John P. Njui   •   BITCOIN (BTC) NEWS   •   NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Summary:

• Bitcoin has continued on its bullish climb above $14k
• BTC just hit a 2020 high of $14,785
• Such levels were last seen during the 2017/2018 bull run
• Bitcoin market cap dominance has continued to increase at the expense of altcoins

As the world’s focus is glued to the 2020 US Elections, Bitcoin is making major moves last seen during the 2017/2018 bull season. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $14,750 – Binance rate -and after printing a yearly high of $14,785. Bitcoin’s current push up could very well be the beginning of the journey to $20k and possibly a new all-time high value.

What the Bitcoin Chart Says

A quick glance at the daily BTC/USDT chart reveals that Bitcoin is in parabolic territory similar to that witnessed in December of 2017 and May 2019.

Chart courtesy of Tradingview.com (Click image for larger view)

In terms of resistances, Bitcoin has very few of them ahead as it attempts to break the December 2017 all-time high value at $20k. The obvious resistances lie at the following levels last witnessed in 2017.

• $14,750
• $15,000
• $15,500
• $15,720
• $16,500
• $17,125
• $17,490
• $18,050

Also from the daily chart shared above, it can be observed that Bitcoin’s price is very much above the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day moving averages. The daily trade volume is also in the green, with the daily MACD exhibiting an overbought situation. The daily MFI is also considerably high at 67.2.

Bitcoin Continues to Dominate at the Expanse of Altcoins

However, the current overbought scenario that Bitcoin is exhibiting might not mean much given that FOMO might already be in play for BTC. A good way of gauging how much capital is invested in Bitcoin is the BTC market cap dominance chart which clearly shows an increased interest in trading the digital asset.

A while back, it was pointed out that if the Bitcoin dominance exceeded 63%, altcoins would continue to suffer in the crypto markets. Revisiting the same dominance chart reveals that Bitcoin’s dominance is currently 65.89. What this means, is that the price of altcoins will continue to suffer as this value continues to increase.

Bitcoin dominance chart courtesy of Tradingview.com< (Click image for larger view)

Additionally, and given the continual institutional interest in Bitcoin, high chances are that BTC continues to be the fan-favorite of this category of investors through the rest of 2020 and possibly the first two quarters of 2021. As a result, altcoins led by Ethereum (ETH), will have to wait till the focus is away from Bitcoin for them to thrive.

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Original article posted on the EthereumWorldNews.com site, by John P. Njui.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Smacks Three of America’s Biggest Finance Firms to Sit at First Place in Market Valuation

By Brenda Ngari – November 4, 2020

Bitcoin’s evolution as an asset of great value has been reflected many times in the swiftness at which the asset has surpassed a large number of already existing firms in the financial industry. Against other assets that have taken the title as “store of value,’ Bitcoin has also shown immense strength in adding and retaining value faster than these assets.

And as this pattern continues, some industry players in the cryptocurrency landscape have taken out time to point out the staggering difference in Bitcoin’s value as an asset, but this time, against some of the world’s leading firms.

Bitcoin has effortlessly dismounted America’s leading finance firms

The analytic comparison made by one of the popular members of the cryptocurrency ecosystem Ran Neuner enlists JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank – four of America’s leading investment and financial service giants, all of which are have existed at least 60 years before Bitcoin’s inception. Interestingly, Bitcoin has managed to take first place as the most valued asset against three of these firms in only just 12 years of its creation.

Bitcoin could still easily unseat JPMorgan in a few years

JPMorgan, the only firm to bypass Bitcoin with $41 billion could still swap positions with Bitcoin in a few years’ time, given that Bitcoin’s price maturation process is more consistent. This draws back to factors like volatility and adoption, all of which have surged by each year.

Investment interest in Bitcoin which has now moved to see investors from other markets turn to Bitcoin as the substitute asset became a booming channel this year when the American economy had to deal with yet another recession. The global influx of institutional investment from leading firms and investors into the market could simultaneously jack up Bitcoin’s price value.

Circulating supply, which is the second metric used in measuring Bitcoin’s market cap will increase as mining activities intensify, thereby acting as another boost for Bitcoin’s market cap. However, it is important to note that Bitcoin’s market capitalization is not the most accurate metric for calculating its value.

Ironically, all the aforementioned firms have all bought into cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan has begun accepting Bitcoin for banking services. Earlier this year, news broke that the Bank of America was also considering cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin cash as equivalents for crypto-related transactions.

Clearly, Bitcoin’s usage is increasing and banks have no choice but to create policies and models that forces them to become crypto-inclusive. In the long run, the amplification of Bitcoin’s dominance will continue to be fueled by traditional firms.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin Pullback As U.S. Presidential Elections Loom Could Ignite Meteoric Altcoin Upsurge: Analyst

By Brenda Ngari – November 2, 2020

The Trump-Biden White House race is about to come to a close in a few days. Interestingly, bitcoin has been incredibly strong and resilient heading into the U.S presidential elections amid the stock market instability.

Last week, bitcoin came close to its June 2019 high above $13,800 and slumped as traditional markets crushed following mounting concerns about the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. Bitcoin was, however, able to avoid a breakdown below $13,000 even as risk-off assets such as gold dropped to one-month lows. 

Surprisingly, bitcoin recovered and surged to $14,045 over the past weekend. This marked the highest level since January of 2018. Perhaps even more interesting, bitcoin breaching the $14K mark coincided with the 12-year anniversary since bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto released the whitepaper on October 31, 2018.

However, the rally to $14,000 was met with violent rejection. One crypto analyst observed that the top cryptocurrency has put in a temporary top around this price level. The analyst expects continued weakness as the U.S. elections draw closer. This, according to him, will give altcoins enough momentum to shine as they post significant gains against the dominant cryptocurrency.

The analyst specifically said:

“I think bitcoin is putting in a temporary top. Price action to the upside when futures are closed gives me further indication that we’ll see a continued pullback into the election. Hopefully, after we’ll see capital go into alts. $eth $btc $link.”

In recent weeks, the altcoin market has seriously underperformed bitcoin. As such, it remains to be seen which catalyst will ignite a rotation of capital from the top crypto to the altcoins.

Notably, the growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry has slowed down during the recent bitcoin mania. This implies that the sector could reawaken when altcoins start rallying massively.

On the other hand, there is a high possibility of a contested election and this could create uncertainty. Such uncertainty could start the next major Bitcoin market decline. Other analysts believe this may have a detrimental impact on altcoins.

At press time, bitcoin has lost 1.62% on the day to trade at $13,460.15.

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DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in the article are wholly those of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to, ZyCrypto. This article is not meant to give financial advice. Please carry out your own research before investing in any of the various cryptocurrencies available.

The original article written by Brenda Ngari and posted on ZyCrypto.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

The True Bitcoin Breakout Hasn’t Even Happened Yet, Volatility Shows

— November 1, 2020 in BTC Reading Time: 2min read

Bitcoin has undergone a massive rally over the past two weeks. From the lows set after the news broke regarding OKEx, the leading cryptocurrency has surged higher by almost 25%. As of this article’s writing, Bitcoin trades for $13,800.

Despite this rapid move to the upside, not all analysts are convinced that the true Bitcoin breakout has taken place. That’s to say, Bitcoin could soon see even more explosive movement.

Bitcoin Hasn’t Even Seen Its True Breakout Yet

A crypto-asset analyst shared the chart below on October 31st, sharing the sentiment that Bitcoin’s volatility is still barely off the lows. The chart below depicts BTC’s one-day historical volatility index since the start of the year. As can be seen, volatility is still far below the highs that were printed during March’s over 60% correction.

This analysis suggests that once Bitcoin breaks the trendline depicted in green, it will begin a move of macro importance. While current trends suggest that will be a move to the upside, BTC could reverse lower from here if another liquidity crisis were to transpire.

Chart of BTC's historical volatility index since the start of 2020 shared by crypto trader and chartist Big Chonis (@Bigchonis on Twitter). Source: BTCUSD from TradingView.com

Bitazu Capital’s Mohit Sorout thinks that this volatility results in a strong move to the upside. He recently shared the chart below, showing how low Bitcoin’s macro volatility is right now compared to historical levels.

Price Discovery Above $20,000 May Happen

The actual breakout is expected to take Bitcoin above $20,000. Cryptocurrency analyst “Light” recently shared that the leading cryptocurrency could see “price discovery over $20,000” once retail investors re-enter the space.

“The retail segment is not overheated whatsoever currently. It will be soon though. Price is leading public interest. This is a telltale sign of smart money entering while retail has their heads buried in the sand. Once the latter catches up to the former, we’ll be in price discovery over $20,000.”

Tyler Winkelvoss and other investors in the space think Bitcoin will pass $20,000 by the end of 2020. The leading cryptocurrency is currently a 45% rally away from achieving that milestone.

Featured Image from Shutterstock
Price tags: xbtusd, btcusd, btcusdt
Charts from TradingView.com
The True Bitcoin Breakout Hasn't Even Happened Yet, Volatility Shows

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The original article was written by Nick Chong and posted on NewsBTC.com.

Article reposted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe

Bitcoin monthly candle closes above $13K for the first time since 2017

The monthly Bitcoin price candle closed above $13,000 for the first time since 2017 when BTC hit an all-time high of nearly $20,000.

Image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

            NOV 01, 2020

The monthly candle of Bitcoin (BTC) for October has closed above $13,000 for the first time since December 2017. It comes after both daily and weekly candles all closed above the crucial resistance level.

Traders often use the monthly log chart to evaluate the long-term and macro trend of an asset. On a monthly chart, each candle represents a whole month of trading activity. As such, a Bitcoin monthly log chart typically covers many years of trading activity.

The monthly chart is considered to be one of the main high time frame charts alongside the weekly chart. A clear breakout above an important level, like $13,000, on the monthly chart, indicates a technical breakout.

The monthly price chart of Bitcoin. Source: TradingView.com (Click image for larger view)

$13,000 breakout means $20,000 is near

As Cointelegraph previously reported, Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood emphasized the importance of the $13,000 level.

Wood, who manages $11 billion in assets under management at Ark Invest, said there is little resistance between $13,000 and $20,000. This means if Bitcoin breaks out on a high time frame chart, the probability to rise to a new record-high could get higher. She said:

“That $13,000 [level] is important because if we were to get through that, then in technical terms, there would be very little resistance and we would probably be on our way back to the peaks we saw in late 2017 — so, around $20,000. Now, we’re not sure if that is going to happen. We could stay in a new trading range, just at a little bit of a higher level than the recent six to 10. Maybe we’re in the $10,000 to $13,000 range. Nonetheless, a breakout.”

Although the price of Bitcoin hit $20,000 in 2017 and $13,970 in 2019, the monthly candle never closed above $13,000. This is because BTC saw sharp rejections during both peaks, which then rattled the market.

The recent rally is particularly optimistic because it has shown a more sustainable staircase-like uptrend. As the price rose, it established clear support levels, making the rally more stable.

What do traders expect in the near term?

In the immediate future, traders are readying for a minor pullback. Technically, the monthly chart of Bitcoin closed significantly higher above key short-term moving averages.

A pseudonymous trader known as “Loma” said BTC would likely drop to around $13,100, and resume the rally. The 5-day moving average on the Bitcoin monthly chart is found at $12,256, so a drop to low $13,000s would be healthy for the rally. Loma wrote:

“The gameplan is we’re going to nuke $BTC to $12.9-13.1k, which is just enough for shorts to pile on expecting $12-12.4k retest, then we use them as nuclear fuel to drop the biggest bearnuka candle upwards leaving shorts in Liquidation Land.”

Similarly, Michael van de Poppe, a full-time trader at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, said a drop to sub-$12,000 could also occur.

As Cointelegraph reported, a Bitcoin pullback entering November would place even more pressure on the altcoin market. Bitcoin has sucked most of the volume from the cryptocurrency market, which means that if BTC goes down, the selling pressure on altcoins would likely intensify.

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Original article posted on the CoinTelegraph.com site, by Joseph Young.

Article re-posted on Markethive by Jeffrey Sloe