Crypto Market Update: Bitcoin Tops $12,000 as Global Markets Collapse on Trump’s China Tariffs

Bitcoin is in the green again, marking sharp increases over the past week. The Libra effect has certainly affected the market and the industry as more people are getting exposed to Bitcoin and blockchain technology. This is especially true after Congress started discussing Libra and cryptocurrencies, while also learning to differentiate between various technologies.

Is it still too early to get excited about Bitcoin’s block halving?

Not since 2017’s bull run has Bitcoin received the amount of attention it’s been getting in the last few months. The price rally, fiery congressional debates, and renewed interest in various digital currency technologies were all unexpected. Furthermore, the market remained unmoved by Bitcoin’s sharp correction which returned to ride the green candles of worldwide trading exchanges.

Another important consideration is that the stock market tumbled amid the intensifying trade war between the two largest economies in the world – the U.S. and China. However, Bitcoin responded with quick and sharp gains.

And while Bitcoin continues to go up, the altcoin market keeps on declining, and almost every trader or investor who holds any alts feels the contraction of their portfolios against Bitcoin, observing how Bitcoin’s dominance continues to take value away from altcoins.

However, there are still altcoins which have continued to rise in value against BTC such as Tezos, which increased by more than 10%. However, that is not enough to inspire confidence among investors and traders.

To summarize, it was a positive week for Bitcoin, and the cryptocurrency market continues to grow and mature. This is despite the many challenges that it faces. As we have learned so far, the pace of events in this market is very fast, and it’s also very difficult to predict what the future holds.

Market Data

BTC: $11,768 (+23%)

ETH: $229.5 (+9.3%)

XRP: $0.31 (+0.7%)

Crypto News

“CZ Binance” Calls For Next Altcoin Season: This Is the Difference From 2017. The CEO of the world’s leading crypto exchange, Binance, Changpeng Zhao, stated that the next altcoin season will be very different from that of 2017. He said that it will be fueled by actual products and users rather than whitepapers and marketing.

Zcash Plunges 3% Following Zooko Wilcox’s Letter Addressing New Zcash Dev Fund. The dollar value of privacy-oriented cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) decreased by about 3%. The drop came right after Zooko Wilcox, the project’s CEO, published an open letter addressing the new Zcash developer fund.

Bakkt to Launch Bitcoin Futures in the Very Near Future, Says ICE CEO. The much-anticipated physically-settled Bitcoin futures trading platform, Bakkt, will be launching in the very near future, according to ICE’s CEO. Supposedly, the company is only awaiting “final regulatory approvals.”

Bitcoin Surges $700 as Trump’s Latest China Slam Puts Global Stock Markets in the Red. US President Donald Trump said he’ll impose a 10% tariff on yet another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, casting global stock markets in the red. Bitcoin, on the other hand, surged in response, potentially signaling investors’ intention to use it as a hedge.

China 2016 Bitcoin Boom Comeback? Yuan Hits 11-Year Low Against the Dollar. The instability of the Chinese yuan relative to the US dollar, combined with growing tensions between the two countries, have caused many to believe that China might circle back to Bitcoin. This is one of the main differences between Bitcoin’s situation now and that of 2016.

Elon Musk Calls Bitcoin ‘Brilliant,’ Better Than Paper Money for Value Transfer. Elon Musk, the popular visionary and founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, publicly said that cryptocurrencies were an improved alternative to fiat. He also said that paper money “is going away.”

Walmart’s Answer to Facebook’s Libra: The Walmart Coin. It appears that Walmart has filed a patent for the creation of a “system and method for digital currency via blockchain”. The move comes shortly after Facebook unveiled its Libra cryptocurrency.

Charts

This week we’ve analyzed Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dash, and Decred. Click here for the full price analysis.