The start of the week saw digital currency markets drop significantly in value, as billions of dollars were shaved off the entire crypto economy’s capitalization. A weekly report from Luno and Arcane Research shows February 23 captured the third-largest bitcoin daily trade volume in crypto history, as spot market volume saw $18 billion change hands. Moreover, crypto derivatives are surging as bitcoin futures open interest commandeered $19.1 billion on Tuesday.

After bitcoin (BTC) touched an all-time price high on Sunday, hitting $58,354 per unit, bitcoin’s value slipped below the $50k handle touching bottom at $44,846 per coin. The loss between these two price ranges saw over 23% shaved off BTC’s market valuation.

While heavy losses were seen across the board throughout the entire crypto-economy, a report from Luno and Arcane Research shows that Tuesday’s trade volume was the third-largest ever seen. The digital asset’s intraday moves had shown the crypto asset’s price fluctuations have been more erratic. In fact, Luno’s report shows intraday moves of close to 20% happened two days in a row.

“The beginning of the week has been more volatile than usual, with both Monday and Tuesday seeing intraday moves of 18%,” the study notes. “Bitcoin dropped from $57k to $46k yesterday before recovering to $54k. This volatility continued this morning, as BTC dropped from the opening around $54k and all the way down to $45k. This is not reflected in the daily volatility metrics yet, as they’re based on daily close prices,” the report adds.

Luno’s report says that traders should be “very careful with leveraged positions, both longs and shorts.” It also said that bitcoin derivatives have been “snowballing in the bitcoin market” and had “peaked at $19.1 billion this Sunday.” “Yesterday’s sell-off pulled out some steam from the leveraged futures market, but the climate is still hot,” Luno’s study emphasizes.

Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, a digital asset derivatives trading platform says the recent bitcoin (BTC) correction was healthy.

“Despite the correction,” Balani said in a note to investors. “The bull market and the case for a stronger rally in bitcoin remains intact. This is only the second correction in BTC prices since November, when bitcoin broke above its previous ATH and started a fresh rally. The 2017 bull market saw bitcoin correct 25%-35% multiple times before reaching its peak in January of 2018,” the Delta Exchange added. Balani expects a “short-term consolidation” in BTC’s prices for now.

— skew (@skewdotcom) February 24, 2021

The findings in Luno and Arcane Research show that between February 1 to Feb. 22nd, bitcoin futures open interest (OI) climbed by 63% outpacing BTC’s price rise which was only 57%.

“The open interest outpacing the bitcoin performance should be a concerning sign as it shows that the leverage $10 [billion] is picking up,” Luno said. “While the OI is a result of both longs and shorts, the huge premiums in the futures market lately indicate that leveraged upside exposure has $5b been the main contributor to the rising OI. It would be a healthy sign going forward if the futures market’s growth takes a breather,” the report added.

The dramatic BTC derivatives fever has seemingly cooled down as Luno and Arcane’s findings show some of the futures OI had dissipated following the sell-off.

“The funding rates have returned to neutral territory, and the market seems healthier,” Arcane Research’s weekly note to investors said this week. For now, bitcoin traders are changing positions and strategies after the dump, and focusing on BTC’s next big move.

What do you think about bitcoin spot market volumes rising and the feverish bitcoin derivatives markets? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Use Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to play online casino games here.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Ethereum extended its rise and traded to a new all-time high at $1,830 against the US Dollar. ETH price is trading in a positive zone and it looks set for more gains towards $1,900.

After spiking above the $1,800 level, Ethereum started a short-term downside correction (similar to bitcoin). ETH corrected below $1,760, but it remained stable above $1,720.

As a result, there was a fresh increase above the $1,800 level. Ether price even traded to a new all-time high near $1,830 and settled well above the 100 hourly simple moving average. It is now showing positive signs above the $1,800 level.

An initial support is near the $1,790 level. It is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $1,755 swing low to $1,830 high. There is also a major ascending channel forming with support near $1,760 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD.

An intermediate support is near the $1,770 level. It coincides with the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the recent wave from the $1,755 swing low to $1,830 high.

On the upside, the price is facing resistance near the $1,830 and $1,850 levels. A proper break above $1,850 might start a steady increase above $1,880. In the stated case, the price may even break the $1,900 level and continue higher towards the $1,950 level.

If Ethereum fails to clear the $1,830 and $1,850 resistance levels, it could correct lower. On the downside, the first major support is near the $1,770 level.

The next major support is near the channel support at $1,760. Any more losses may possibly lead the price towards the $1,700 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Technical Indicators

Hourly MACD – The MACD for ETH/USD is slowly gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI – The RSI for ETH/USD is still well above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $1,760

Major Resistance Level – $1,850

Bitcoin price remained in a bullish zone above the $45,000 support against the US Dollar. BTC is eyeing a fresh rally above the $48,000 and $50,000 resistance levels in the near term.

This past week, bitcoin price made an attempt to test the $50,000 level against the US Dollar. The BTC/USD pair broke the $48,000 resistance, but there was a lack in momentum.

A new all-time high was formed near $48,700 before the price started a downside correction. There was a break below the $47,000 support. The price traded below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $43,773 swing low to $48,700 high.

Bitcoin price is now trading nicely above the $45,000 level and the 100 simple moving average (4-hours). On the downside, there is a decent support forming near the $46,000 level.

There is also a major bullish trend line forming with support near $46,000 on the 4-hours chart of the BTC/USD pair. The trend line is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $43,773 swing low to $48,700 high.

On the upside, the $48,000 and $48,500 levels are important hurdles. A clear break above the $48,000 level is likely to increase the chances of a surge above the $50,000 level in the coming sessions.

If bitcoin struggles to clear the $48,000 resistance level, there are chances of a downside correction. The first major support is near the trend line and $46,000.

The next major support is near the $45,000 level. If there is a clear break and close below the $45,000 support, the price could decline 5%-10%. The next major support on the downside is near the $41,000 level.

Technical indicators

4 hours MACD – The MACD for BTC/USD is likely to gain strength in the bullish zone.

4 hours RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is still above the 50 level.

Major Support Level – $46,000

Major Resistance Level – $48,000

Ether is stagnating against Bitcoin despite BTC's strong rally after BNY Mellon embraces digital assets.

The price of Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, has been stagnating against Bitcoin in recent days after a strong few weeks against BTC.

In the past few weeks, ETH and BTC have shown some inverse correlation as ETH rallied strongly when BTC consolidated, and vice versa.

ETH/BTC 15-minute price chart (Binance). Source: TradingView.com

In the last several hours, Bitcoin has seen a decent rally after BNY Mellon said it would begin offering Bitcoin services later this year.

“BNY Mellon is proud to be the first global bank to announce plans to provide an integrated service for digital assets. Growing client demand for digital assets, maturity of advanced solutions, and improving regulatory clarity present a tremendous opportunity for us to extend our current service offerings to this emerging field.”

The announcement almost immediately uplifted the momentum of Bitcoin, causing it to rally from around $45,500 to around $47,400. It eventually reached an all-time high hours after, rising to above $48,500.

During the same period, the ETH/BTC pair pulled back despite their respective USD remaining in relative lockstep. But in recent weeks, ETH typically rallied harder than Bitcoin during uptrends, alongside both large-cap altcoins and DeFi tokens.

BTC/USD vs. ETH/USD (orange) 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: Tradingview

But, in the last 24 hours as Bitcoin gained significant short-term momentum, ETH has been lagging behind BTC.

Willy Woo, a popular on-chain analyst, said that historically, Bitcoin is a better “multi-cycle HODL” while ETH is a “better mid-macro” swing trade.

This trend is shown during short-term cycles as well, as Bitcoin tends to increase steadily most of the time while ETH either accelerates against BTC or stagnates. He said:

“Risk Adjusted Returns over a 4 year hold period. -> Winner: Tied. See how short ETH's backtrace is? That shows just how new and untested it is, only 1 macro cycle of data so far. Gold also shown (6000 yrs of backtrace, a supply inflation of 100% per 40 yrs, not digital). Personal opinion from this data: - BTC is a better multi-cycle HODL. - ETH is a better mid-macro swing trade.”

In the near term, traders and analysts generally remain optimistic around the short-term cycle of ETH.

ETH, BTC year-to-date performance. Source: Digital Assets Data

For instance, there has been no sell-the-news reaction to the CME ETH futures listing, which is a positive factor that may boost the chances of ETH’s rally continuing.

Additionally, on the first day of trading, the CME ETH futures market traded over $30 million in volume, which is relatively high for the first day of trading. Thus, if the institutional demand for ETH rises similar to Bitcoin in late 2020, ETH could see a broader rally in the weeks to come.

A trader known as “Pentoshi” said that altcoins and ETH should have much stronger momentum, suggesting that they are currently stagnating. He said:

“Alt market has me feeling a little uncertain atm $ETH and $LINK should have way more momentum, DeFi perp showing indecision Total potentially finding some resistance here at 500B Something to watch, and plan for. NOT FEAR. Any correction is opportunity. View it that way.”

For now, $1,800 remains the key level to break for ETH to regain momentum against both Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar in the foreseeable future.

Article source

After a dramatic steep correction, the fiat value of Bitcoin is moving up and crossed the $50,000 mark again in a fresh bull run. The digital currency is trading at $50,864 as of press time and is pushing to breach $51,000, which has become a key resistance level now.

The pivot in the prices came after Bitcoin dropped below $46,000 earlier today, meaning it recovered over 14 percent in merely a few hours.

Bitcoin received a massive boost earlier this month after a $1.5 billion investment in the digital currency by United States’ electric car manufacturer Tesla, which is co-founded and led by billionaire Elon Musk. The prices of the crypto rallied for a couple of weeks to go beyond $58,000, setting a record.

Though the volatility in Bitcoin prices is not unusual, such a rally alarmed many investors, including Musk who tweeted that Bitcoin is overpriced. While Musk’s earlier tweets pushed Bitcoin prices upward, this one did the opposite triggering a slump.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 20, 2021

Partnership & Opportunity: BDSwiss and Autochartist launch Trends AnalysisGo to article >>

The recent recovery came after Bitcoin went down 20 percent from its record peak. That massive drop resulted in the liquidation of around $6 billion positions in derivatives.

Despite Bitcoin’s wild swings, more and more corporates are getting interested in investing in digital currency. Most recently, payments company, Square revealed its $170 million investment in Bitcoin.

Apart from Bitcoin, the share prices of MicroStrategy, a company that bought $1.145 billion worth of Bitcoins, also plummeted more than 20 percent in Tuesday’s trading session. However, the company’s CEO, Michael Saylor is strangely bullish on Bitcoin and is expecting the digital currency’s market cap to hit $100 trillion.

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) February 23, 2021

The crypto industry was seen trying to recover from its latest setback. Cardano [ADA] as well as Polkadot [DOT] seemed to be least affected by the latest crash. Almost all the assets in the crypto industry were seen bleeding. Bitcoin, during the time of writing, was seen swinging through the $49K to $50K zone. Polkadot, unlike all the other assets, hadn’t recorded major losses. XRP had, however, slumped down to the seventh position and retained its price above $0.45 despite the recent crash. Additionally, the overall crypto market cap was noted at $1.51 trillion, during press time.

Cardano, at the time of writing, was seen trading for $0.987, with a 3.25% drop in the last 24-hours. The altcoin had surged to a high of $1.02, just yesterday while all the other assets were seen slumping. These numbers affirmed that ADA was trying to make its way to its previous all-time high of $1.33, which it achieved about three years ago.

The one-hour price chart of ADA announced that the bulls were hibernating in its market. The Parabolic SAR indicator had formed a line of support below the candlesticks which diminished the chances of a downward breakout. The MACD indicator retained the bullish crossover that it had formed yesterday. The Relative Strength Index indicator was exhibiting a neutral notion in the market with no major buying or selling activity.

The altcoin’s one-day price chart partially mirrored the short-term price chart of ADA. The Awesome Oscillator indicator, however, was delivering a bearish momentum with the formation of red closing bars. The Chaikin Money Flow index was sky high as it was over zero and has been around the same region for a while now. The Money Flow Index indciator announced that a buyers’ sentiment was still intact in the ADA market.

Bitcoin surged above the $52,000 level on Wednesday for the first time.

The red-hot cryptocurrency rose to a record high of $52,340 at around 2:45 p.m. ET, according to data from Coin Metrics.

Bitcoin was created in 2009, not long after the global financial crisis. It has gone from a protest against the banking system to something of a "digital gold" that is beginning to catch on with mainstream investors.

Companies like PayPal and Mastercard have made significant moves to support cryptocurrencies. And Tesla last week said it had invested $1.5 billion into bitcoin and planned to accept the digital currency as payment for its products.

"We believe the story and theme here is much larger than just investing in Bitcoin and predicting its future price, but rather around the potential ramifications that crypto, blockchain, and bitcoin could have across the technology and corporate world for the next decade," Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities' managing director, said in a note Wednesday.

"From Paypal, and Square, to the likes of Nvidia, Tesla, IBM, Visa, Mastercard and many other companies across verticals, we believe the trend of transactions, bitcoin investments, and blockchain driven initiatives could surge over the coming years as this bitcoin mania is not a fad in our opinion, but rather the start of a new age on the digital currency front."

Bitcoin's latest rally has reminded many investors of its massive ascent to nearly $20,000 in 2017, which was followed by a plunge the following year that saw the digital coin lose 80% of its value.

But the world's most valuable cryptocurrency has since staged a fierce comeback, more than quadrupling in 2020 and gaining over 70% this year.

Strategists at JPMorgan warned in a note Tuesday that unless bitcoin's volatility starts to ebb, its current price "looks unsustainable." Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have gained a reputation for their extreme price swings.

Boasting one of the most volatile trading histories, bitcoin’s dizzying highs and Death Valley lows are the stuff of legend among traders and observers of the top cryptocurrency’s trajectory.

Double-digit price declines and ascents are not uncommon in the course of a day for bitcoin. Problems plague the bitcoin ecosystem, including fraud, scams and an absence of regulation that further feeds into its volatility. But price changes have outpaced the volatile swings at times, resulting in massive price bubbles.

Launched on Jan. 3, 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, the genesis block of bitcoin (block number 0) was mined with a reward of 50 bitcoins — worth $2.346 million based on today’s price as of this writing.

The cryptocurrency’s first price increase happened in 2010 when the value of a single bitcoin rose from around $0.0008 to $0.08. Since then, bitcoin and its price moves have been compared to the Beanie Babies fad of the 1980s and the Dutch Tulip Mania of the 17th century.

There’s one thing that has been consistent about bitcoin — so far. The lowest price of a single bitcoin has consistently risen after every significant correction, according to Argo Blockchain.

The creator of bitcoin reserved more than 1 million BTC and to date, hasn’t sold or moved a single one. If the creator is an individual, that makes him or her the owner of the largest personal fortune in history.

Here’s a look at the major bitcoin corrections of all time.

By Nov. 23, 2020, bitcoin was trading for $18,353.

In the last minute of writing this, the price of bitcoin has ranged from $46,727 to $46,896 on Coindesk.

Bitcoin made waves in the financial world as its value surged across 2017 to nearly $20,000. As the cryptocurrency doubled in price three years later, many saw the cryptocurrency as one of the most lucrative investments out on the market. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be bought in seconds with little transaction fees and can be securely stored on digital devices no larger than a thumb drive.

However, some are wary of the big price swings seen with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and opt for digital assets with less volatility. Stablecoins, with a reserve asset as a basis, offer stability as they do not fluctuate in price like other crypto assets. Stablecoin can be purchased on a wide variety of platforms like Goldexchange.com.

Both Bitcoin and stablecoins are strong assets. All digital currencies continue to rise in popularity and present themselves as attractive investment options. But which digital option is the better investment? Does one have an advantage over the other?

Keep reading to understand if stablecoins are a better investment than Bitcoin.

Many who own stablecoins choose to hold them for specific reasons. The crypto asset is not a good investment for people interested in making large sums of money, as the price of fiat currencies remain static. While stablecoins backed by precious metals and other commodities are possible investment options, fiat-backed coins still enjoy the largest market percentage.

While currencies like the U.S. Dollar and Euro appear stable, their value does often tend to decline over time. Economic stimulus efforts to ‘print money’ weakens the perception of fiat currencies in some who then see the asset as a depreciating investment.

For example, one U.S. Dollar in 2018 was only able to purchase the equivalent of six cents a century ago. Those skeptical of fiat money (and the centralization of fiat-backed stablecoins) argue Bitcoin would be a better investment as the crypto is decentralized and not linked to the fiat financial system in any way.

While stablecoins remain relatively static in price, it is very unlikely that the cryptocurrency will trade at a higher price than the base asset unless the coin enjoys heavy trade volume and attention. However, a stablecoin could trade at a lower price point than its reserve asset due to a lack of trust or lack of use.

Overall, those who invest in stablecoins have a small chance of making money on their investment but a greater chance of not profiting or even losing money in the wrong scenario (especially with more obscure stablecoins).

Investors who choose Bitcoin have an entirely different world. The cryptocurrency is known for wild price swings that can take place in a matter of moments. The coin surged up in price during 2017 and did the same in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic led many to seek alternative investments.

Since Bitcoin has no reserve asset, its price could theoretically drop down to zero and become worthless. At the same time, the coin’s price potential is limitless, especially since Bitcoin remains the most popular and well-known crypto coin in and outside the financial world.

Stablecoins are a better choice for investors eager to maintain their portfolios and avoid as much risk as possible. Bitcoin remains the best investment option for people willing to take a risk to potentially make large amounts of money and grow their portfolios.

Both stablecoins and Bitcoin remain strong investment opportunities. Digital currencies continue to grow in popularity as more investors and businesses see their value. Diversifying a portfolio with any virtual currency introduces people to the potential and real-world applicability of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin’s perception as an on-ramp into the virtual currency world helps the coin maintain strong value and prominence. The rise of decentralized finance has breathed new life into the stablecoin world as the asset is commonly used to transact and function as a bridge between the traditional and cryptocurrency economies.

The question if stablecoins are a better investment than Bitcoin comes down to personal preference. Stablecoins are a better choice for those who believe in DeFi and are interested in avoiding violent price fluctuations (and the potential to lose money).

However, Bitcoin’s immense potential makes the coin a better choice for investors looking for more risk (and the possibility of high rewards). Investors need to make personal decisions about the aggressiveness of their strategies and weigh the pros and cons of each asset before making an investment decision.

Wedbush Securities, a prominent wealth manager based in Los Angeles, believes Bitcoin (BTC) is becoming a permanent fixture in the global financial marketplace.

Managing director Dan Ives informed clients on Wednesday that corporate adoption of Bitcoin represents a much bigger story than merely predicting the digital currency’s future price.

“We believe the story and theme here is much larger than just investing in Bitcoin and predicting its future price, but rather around the potential ramifications that crypto, blockchain, and bitcoin could have across the technology and corporate world for the next decade,” he said in a note that was obtained by CNBC.

He also explained why so-called Bitcoin mania is not a fad:

Bitcoin’s adoption story accelerated last year after major institutions and corporations sought exposure to the digital asset. That trend appears to be intensifying after Tesla confirmed it had allocated $1.5 billion of its cash reserves to BTC.

Although Bitcoin has earned a reputation for being extremely volatile, its price swings appear to have ebbed from the previous bull cycle that peaked in 2017. As Cointelegraph reported Wednesday, Bitcoin’s 60-day volatility is significantly lower today than it was when the cryptocurrency topped out near $20,000 in December 2017.

BTC price peaked at $51,721 on Wednesday, a new all-time high, according to TradingView data.

Over the past couple of days, the cryptocurrency market has seen a divisive shift in the sentiments with a lot of users jumping on the digital asset bandwagon. It is not just Bitcoin that was on a bull tear as altcoins such as Ethereum, XRP and Tron also enjoyed their time in the sun. 

Justin Sun’s Tron, having been in the shadows for some time, has begun to wave in the digital asset industry. The price of Tron was not the only factor that emerged, as a number of personalities also started their buzz around the popular cryptocurrency.

The new year began with a number of positive updates from across the industry, with major players doubling down the wave. Justin Sun had also recently talked to Bloomberg about the age of memecoins and how it could act as a stepping stone to further developments.Tron also changed their energy and bandwidth spectrum from 40SUN to 140SUN. This came after the Tron Foundation approved the No.51 request to vote for the blockchain.

At press time, Tron traded for $0.056 after a 62.93 per cent increase in value over the previous week. The 20th-ranked cryptocurrency held a market cap of $3.9 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $4.47 billion. Cryptocurrency fans expect BSV to overtake in terms of a market cap of $4.13 billion.

The hype around Tron has reached such a crescendo that even mainstream stars like Lindsey Lohan have begun to talk about it. On February 11, Lindsey Lohan tweeted about Tron and its features, betting on a bright future. The Hollywood star said the following:

“Exploring #DeFi and already liking $JST, $SUN on $TRX. Super fast and 0 fee. Good job @justinsuntron”

Tron has positioned itself as a competitor of Ethereum with the sole aim of improving the trading ecosystem. The first major resistance level of Tron broke at $0.052 at an intraday low of $0.04112. Right now, analysts expect Tron to test the resistance at $0.055 before any price drawdown occurs. Only time will tell if the price swing is still going the bull’s way.

The world’s most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin is currently struggling to maintain above the $10000 mark. On a couple of occasions, it just touched $10000 but did not dip below the mark. Currently, Bitcoin is priced at $10,340 at press time with a loss of 0.88 percent. Despite the downtrend of the Bitcoin, the bitcoin community is still bullish for the next 12 months. Moreover, nearly 90 percent of the people who participated in the poll by anonymous crypto analysts PlanB, are bullish on the crypto space. As Coinpedia reported earlier that Whales and investors are trying hard to keep Bitcoin Above $10000, according to popular on-chain data analytics platform Santiment, the bitcoin whales are increasing their holdings. The number of wallets holding 10,000 to 100,000 Bitcoins has increased from 104 on September 17, 2020, to 107 on September 24, 2020. Therefore, with the increase in the volume of the bitcoin whales, an immense buying pressure can be anticipated. As a result, the Bitcoin price is bound for an incredible move upwards in the coming days. A normal routine of the crypto whales includes trading BTC for other assets. But a report published by another on-chain data provider CryptoQuant shows that the active users in all exchanges who deposit BTC hit the 3-year low. The lowered inflow of the assets on the world’s largest exchanges indicated the ‘holding’ sentiment of the whales. Most of the bitcoins remain unspent with the whales or not have been moved for trade. Whales prefer to hold Bitcoins rather than trading for any other assets. Summarizing the whole story, Bitcoin currently is struggling to rebound to the highest level. The bitcoin whales who hold more than 10000 bitcoins have surged in the week’s time and moreover, they prefer to stack up the coins.  TagsBitcoin News Bitcoin Price Bitcoin Trading Join Trade Experts Chats On

Ned Segal – the CFO of Twitter, the second-largest social media platform in the world – says that the company is potentially looking into adding bitcoin to its official finance roster, thereby allowing payments to be made in the world’s number one digital currency by market cap.

Segal says that nothing is set in stone yet, though if Twitter were to make this decision in the coming weeks or months, it shouldn’t be a surprise to digital traders. After all, the company is owned and operated by Jack Dorsey, which has been a large proponent of bitcoin over the past several years.

Dorsey’s other company Square has already given people the chance to purchase and trade digital assets and has seen hundreds of millions of dollars every year in bitcoin-related revenue. In addition, the company was one of the first institutional players to emerge and provide public support for the asset, buying roughly $50 million worth in late 2020.

Segal says that the Twitter staff is looking into the possibilities of associating itself with bitcoin. The company is in no hurry to decide and wants to be right on the mark before taking any major steps. In a statement, he claims:

We’ve done a lot of the upfront thinking to consider how we might pay employees should they ask to be paid in bitcoin, how we might pay a vendor if they asked to be paid in bitcoin, and whether we need to have bitcoin on our balance sheets should that happen. We want to be thoughtful about it over time, but we haven’t made any changes yet.

Twitter appears to be following in the footsteps of Tesla, the electric car company owned and operated by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk. Recently, the company purchased as much as $1.5 billion worth of BTC and claimed that it was now looking into allowing its customers to pay for items and services with the digital asset.

Bitcoin initially began as a payment currency and was designed as a means of shutting out fiat altogether. However, its vulnerability to price swings and fluctuations has ultimately gotten in the way. At the time of writing, the world’s primary digital currency is still very much viewed as a speculative asset, though it has been slowly garnering a reputation as a hedge tool or store of wealth following the introduction of the coronavirus pandemic given recent boosts in inflation.

Either way, while the idea of incorporating BTC as a payment currency with a major company is no doubt intriguing, it may be easier said than done.

In the early hours of Feb. 11 Yearn.finance (YFI) experienced a high volume spike which pushed the price to a new all-time high at $45,900. 

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that YFI hit a swing low at $33,638 on Feb.10 before experiencing a 26% breakout of 26%.

The move appeared to be motivated by a corporate registration filing with the State of Delaware which showed Grayscale Investments registering the LLC for a Yearn finance trust similar to its Bitcoin and Ethereum products.

A range of new partnership announcements and further expansion of its vast DeFi ecosystem are also factors that may have catalyzed YFI’s surge to a new high.

VORTECS™ data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro began to detect a bullish outlook for YFI on Feb.7, prior to the recent price rise.

The VORTECS™ score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

As can be seen on the VORTECS™ chart above, after seeing its price decline in the early hours on Feb.10 the YFI community had a significant announcement, and prior to this announcement the VORTECS ™ score registered 48, then rose to 66 as YFI price broke out from $35,000 to $42,500 in the hours that followed.

In an effort to help the YFI protocol become the most expansive decentralized finance ecosystem, Yearn also announced a partnership with Badger DAO, whose purpose is to build the necessary products and infrastructure that will help accelerate Bitcoin as collateral across other blockchains.

Together, Yearn.finance and BadgerDAO hope to build the “best-in-class Bitcoin vaults” for the DeFi space that will allow BTC holders to fully integrate and participate in the growing DeFi movement.

The partnership will also help ensure sustainable yields for Badger vaults while allowing Yearn users to earn a healthier compensation, amounting to a win-win for both communities and the DeFi ecosystem as a whole.

Yearn price received further attention on Feb.11 when it was revealed that Grayscale Investments registered an LLC for a prospective Yearn Finance (YFI) Trust, indicating that mainstream financial investors may soon have access to the governance token.

Institutional investors are thought to be the primary force propelling the current crypto bull market and announcements that signal their investment into particular assets like YFI tend to generate a temporary pump in price and sentiment.

What is yet to be determined is whether today’s YFI rally was a buy the rumor, sell the news event.

Up and up Bitcoin’s price goes, rising higher than even the tallest clouds, headed straight “to da moon."

Today, Bitcoin peaked at $57,000, its highest ever price.

Why the rise? The reasons are likely manifold and various; Bitcoin’s bull run is now in full swing.

One obvious candidate is US business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, which yesterday announced that it will sell off $1 billion of debt to buy more Bitcoin. MicroStrategy has done this before: it sold $400 million in convertible senior notes in December, which it added to a pool of money used to buy billions of the coin.

The new all-time high comes as the crypto benefits from a recent wave of "mainstreaming".

Last week, BNY Mellon announced that it will invest in crypto for its clients. Industry leaders told Decrypt last week said that the move will change how asset managers view Bitcoin, pushing its price even higher in line with the long-term price predictions by JPMorgan, Guggenheim and others.

The continuous price surge of the last few months has now pushed Bitcoin’s market cap north of $1 trillion. In crypto, the market cap refers to the total number of coins in circulation multiplied by the current market price of each coin. The total market cap of the entire cryptocurrency market first reached $1 trillion in early January, as Decrypt reported. Now, the entire market cap of crypto is $1.7 trillion.

Altcoins—coins that are alternatives to Bitcoin—have also performed swimmingly this week.

The price of Ethereum, the largest alternative cryptocurrency to Bitcoin, today hit $2,010, a jump of 3.81% from yesterday’s $1,933. Ethereum’s weekly price change is an increase of 9.03%.

Binance Coin , or BNB, jumped this week to become the third-largest coin by market cap. Its price increased by 15.97% to $298.72 over the past 24 hours. Its weekly price increase is 124.58%—the highest among top cryptocurrencies. Yesterday, BNB hit an all-time high of $399.

Polkadot , the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, increased 17.15% in the last 24 hours and 29% in the past week. Its current price is $38.12. And Cardano (ADA), the sixth-largest, jumped by 15.53% in the past day and by 14.70% in the past week to today’s price of $1.07.

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.