Bitcoin has fought to trade above $4,000 in December and for the most part, it has succeeded. However, the very crucial support level was breached yesterday as the currency lost 5 percent to drop to $3,830. However, it has since recovered to trade above $4,000. The support level seems quite fragile and at press time, the currency was trading at $4,023, up 3.1 percent in the past 24 hours. The currency will however surpass its all-time high by the end of next year according to the CEO of Japanese crypto trading platform Quoine.
Bitcoin kicked off December by reclaiming the $4,000 level and in the first four days, the price has hovered around this level. Having hit as high as $4,310, it dropped to just above $3,800, down $300 in a few hours. This was a source of concern for many, especially since there have been several predictions that Bitcoin is yet to hit bottom and could go further lower.
However, the currency bounced back and at press time, it was trading at $4,023 according to data from coinmarketcap.com. On the top 6 markets, Bitcoin was trading below $4,000 which is a source of concern. The six include BitMEX, CoinBene, Binance and OKEx and together, they account for 40 percent of the total daily trading volume. HitBTC and Cryptonex had the highest prices at $4,111 and $4,176 respectively.
Bitcoin will hit and surpass its all-time high in 2019, the CEO of Quoine stated. Mike Kayamori, who heads the Japanese crypto exchange, stated that he believes that in the new year, the currency will bounce back despite hitting a 14-month low just a fortnight ago. Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg, Kayamori stated that he believes that the currency will reap from the efforts in regulation and institutional investment in 2019.
While 2019 will be a good year for the digital currencies industry, the market is very unpredictable in the short term.
A lot of people said $4,000 was probably the technical bottom, but obviously it went through that. So, the truth is nobody knows. That said, when you look at the history and how things are going, I think the bottom is near.
Kayamori admitted that the plunge in prices in November, which was Bitcoin’s worst in seven years, caught him by surprise. As with many other stakeholders in the industry, he expected a bull run to kick off in November and push through to December. Looking at the current market movements, he believes that in the short term, the market lacks catalysts to push it higher and it could end the year around $4,000.
Quoine has been operating a crypto-only exchange but recently delved into crypto-fiat listings as the regulatory environment in Japan improved. To do so, the exchange rebranded to Liquid which in the past 24 hours accounted for the sixth-highest Bitcoin daily trading volume.
While Kayamori believes Bitcoin will hit its all-time high again next year, another financial expert is of a completely different thought. According to Atuyla Sarin, a financial expert who lectures at Santa Clara University, Bitcoin is close to becoming worthless. In an op-ed published on MarketWatch, Sarin stated that he believes that Bitcoin is now entering a death spiral and that it will experience a “swift and painful drop to zero.”
Source: bitcoininsider
