Bitcoin news – live: BTC price hits 5-month high as analyst predicts ‘very significant’ surge

Bitcoin is seeing another price spurt, rising above $55,000 for the first time since May. It is now less than $10,000 away from the all-time high it hit in mid April.

The price surge has taken its market cap above $1 trillion and provided a major boost to the overall crypto market.

Ethereum (ether) is now back above $3,500, while dogecoin is now closer to $0.30 than $0.20, having lingered below $0.25 for several weeks. Every single one of the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies are now in the green on both a 24 hour and seven day timeframe.

A key metric for estimating price movements is the supply of bitcoin held by long-term holders.

Of the 18.78 million bitcoins that currently exist, 13 million – or 69 per cent – of them are currently held by people who have held them for 12 months or longer.

“Tracking this metric is important as it clearly highlights times of tight supply, which are often highly correlated with significant future price appreciation,” Will Hamilton, head of trading and research at digital asset management firm TCM Capital, told The Independent.

“More and more investors are buying and holding, which should translate into higher prices. All things considered, we think Q4 will see some very significant moves to the upside for the market as a whole.”

Is bitcoin’s remarkable recovery the second leg of a bull run or just a “dead cat bounce” before plummeting once again?

This is the question currently dividing crypto market analysts, with adherents to the first theory believing bitcoin is set to hit new all-time highs within the next couple of months. Those most optimistic see bitcoin hitting six figures before Christmas.

One analysts has drawn comparisons to similar market patterns seen in 2017, when bitcoin quadrupled in price between early October and December.

Others have pointed to a likeness to the descent from the dotcom bubble bursting in the early 200s.

The two diverging theories put bitcoin either at a fraction of its current price by 2022, or several multiples higher than it.

Should bitcoin rise another $14,000 over the coming weeks, the dead cat bounce theory will be disproved. However it will need to fall to well below $30,000 for the price rally theory to be dismissed.

The price of bitcoin has managed to hold above $50,000, reaching as high as $51,839 on Wednesday morning, according to CoinMarketCap’s price index.

It’s now up more than 20 per cent week-on-week, while bitcoin’s market cap is steadily closing in on $1 trillion. The last time it was above this landmark was way back in May.

Bitcoin’s resurgence may have boosted the likes of Ethereum (ether) and dogecoin, but not all leading cryptocurrencies have seen a price rise overnight. Solana (SOL) fell by nearly 10 per cent, dropping it back below Ripple (XRP) in terms of overall market cap.

Bitcoin’s latest price surge has pushed its market cap above Facebook’s.

During its record-breaking price rally earlier this year, bitcoin briefly rivalled the market value of silver, while the overall crypto market surpassed the entire worth of Apple, the world’s most valuable company.

It’s still a long, long way from gold, which has a market cap more than 10-times that of bitcoin’s. Some high-profile investors, such as Tim Draper, believe bitcoin could eventually reach these heights, meaning a single bitcoin would be worth more than half a million dollars.

After a day of steadily climbing in price, bitcoin has finally risen above $50,000. It is the first time the cryptocurrency has peaked above this milestone since early September, and means bitcoin is now up more than 18 per cent since the start of October.

We’ve heard from some experts and analysts, who offer their thoughts on what’s behind this latest price surge, as well as speculate on where it might go from here.

You can read the full story here.

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