© Reuters.
Investing.com – Bitcoin rose 0.37 percent in the past 24 hours, while the price hit $17,250. The weekly gain currently stands at 3.13 percent. Here are the top things to know about the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
1. 2023 will be a prosperous year
Bloomberg analysts estimate that in 2023 bitcoin will be on a roll in most likely scenarios. It is especially if the global economy is hit by a recession that BTC should perform well.
But there is also another scenario that bitcoin would disproportionately benefit from:
“If the Fed initiates a trend shift in monetary policy, bitcoin should become a digital version of the price of and move like the metal and long-term U.S. government bonds. and asset prices is less likely”.
2) BTC/USD downtrend remains intact
Crypto analyst @CryptoCapo_, well-known on Twitter (NYSE:), cannot agree with this opinion. It indicates that the downtrend remains intact and therefore there is no strong evidence that a floor has already been formed.
3. bitcoin is a “decentralized pyramid scheme”.
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon used his company’s 41st annual health conference to remind people that bitcoin is no ordinary asset. It is simply a “decentralized pyramid scheme”, he said.
This, however, cannot hide the fact that blockchain technology has utility in an increasing number of areas of daily life, as Dimon himself had to admit recently. From his point of view, however, bitcoin itself remains highly speculative and is purchased by its users precisely for this reason and not to pay for goods or services.
4. The number of BTC millionaires is dropping sharply
The sharp rise in BTC to its all-time high of $69,000 has undoubtedly spawned many bitcoin millionaires. Crypto analyst Dan Ashmore found that a year ago, at the start of 2022, there were around 90,000 wallets containing BTC worth more than $1 million. Today, there are only 24,000, which represents a drop of 73 percent.
5. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Facilitation Rally
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust rose 12 percent earlier this week, outperforming most other risky investments. This is because the parent company, the Digital Currency Group (DCG), was spared a major fiasco.
Cameron Winklevoss had given the DCG an ultimatum until Jan. 8 to repay $900 million to his company, Gemini Trust Co. The amount owed was secured through a trade deal between Gemini and DCG subsidiary Genesis. In November, following the bankruptcy of FTX, Genesis stopped all payments due to lack of liquidity. The ultimatum expired without anything happening.
It is widely expected that the cryptocurrency market will come under further selling pressure when DCG is forced to dissolve the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to settle its debts and its assets are sold.
By Marco Oehrl