Bitcoin Over $10k for the First Time
They quoted the Bitcoin (BTC) price in five digits to the left of the decimal for the first time in three months. In addition to that, the top cryptocurrency broked above $10,000 and marked a high of $10,176 in the early European trading hours. And this became its highest level since October 26, based on CoinDesk’s Bitcoin’s Price Index.
BTC, at the press time, is shifting places at $10,130, representing a 3% increase on a 24-hour basis. The movement surpassing the $10,000 price mark is with an improvement in the on-chain fundamentals and looks sustainable.
On early Sunday, Adaptive Capital’s Partner tweeted, “This breakout is the real deal. Fundamental investment activity is backing this $10k breakout.”
With this latest surge, the crypto’s year-to-date gains have boosted to 41 percent. Then, its market capitalization has risen to $183 billion. Bitcoin is now over $3,500 from the low of $6,435 registered in mid-December.
In early January, BTC picked up a bid under $7,000 and has been improving ever since in a textbook bull move – a steady uptrend with regular low-volume pullbacks testing dip demand.
Most of the top alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) are outperforming Bitcoin. This leads the BTC’s dominance of the overall crypto market to decline 64%, the lowest level in seven months.
Recently, Ethereum’s (ETH) Ether token is trading at $230, its highest level since August. And this represents a 78 percent gain on a year-to-date basis.
Aside from that, famous names such as Litecoin, EOS, and Binance Coin increased 70 to 90 percent. Then, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV are up 120 percent and 250 percent, respectively.
But these coins are lagging BTC on a 24-hour basis.
VanEck’s Reason to Hold BTC
Meanwhile, on January 29, investment management company VanEck released a report, suggesting that institutional investors should allot a small percentage of their capital into Bitcoin. In the report, it stated that BTC might improve the risk and return reward profile of institutional investment portfolios.
Also, the researchers emphasized, “A small allocation to Bitcoin significantly enhanced the cumulative return of 60% equity and 40% bonds of portfolio allocation mix while only minimally impacting its volatility.”
Out of all the portfolios considered by VanEck, the one continuously showing the highest return was the one who had 3% Bitcoin. However, the nature of BTC as a bearer asset and lack of infrastructure, linking it to capital markets, is a challenge to institutional adoption.
Moreover, VanEck also believes that BTC ca possibly become digital gold. And this is due to is scarcity, monetary value, and ease of transfer. The researchers revealed that Bitcoin is not a currency. Still, it can become one.
The firm said, “Bitcoin is not quite a currency, but most certainly is money. However, it may become a currency in the future.”
Also, there is an in-depth comparison of the features of the United States dollar, gold, and Bitcoin in the report. And it suggests the BTC has more of the features that are attractive from an asset that serves as money than gold.
A lot in the crypto community has high hopes for BTC as an investment asset. In an earlier report, founder and partner of crypto venture capital fund Morgan Creek Digital recommended that Bitcoin hitting $10,000 is just the first step in its path towards $100,000 by 2021.