Something good happened to Bitcoin (BTC) at around 10.30 UTC. The value of the King of Crypto started gaining from levels of $5,940 to current levels of $6,412 at the moment of writing this. This means that BTC has gained 8.24% in the last 24 hours.
Observing the total market-capitalization of the crypto markets, we find that the markets have gained $20 Billion in the same time period that BTC gained 8.24%. The total market cap went from levels around $236 Billion to current levels of $256.8 Billion. This is some good news as there was some eerie sense that we could be headed for a further market decline.
But are we out of the woods yet?
It is still too early to tell with some analysts claiming that there is a 16% chance of a Bull market. But for that to happen, BTC has to reach values of $7,400. There is also the constant reminder that miners might switch off their machines if Bitcoin mining is no longer profitable. The average cost of mining one BTC has been estimated as being between $6,000 and $8,000. Fundstrat’s Thomas Lee has put this number at $8,038. This means that miners are currently incurring losses in a hope that the price of BTC will go up.
One factor that might help the price of BTC is that BTC futures expire every last Friday of every month. This means that the said futures expired yesterday, June 29th. July being a fresh month, there is a good 4 weeks of probable bullish trends as Futures contract are not a major factor again for 2 to 3 weeks.
Also to remember, are the regulatory announcements across the globe in the past few days. Regulatory fears have sort of relaxed a bit with more and more countries giving some direction forward. The country of Malta recently passed 3 crypto and blockchain bills aimed at promoting the country as a ‘Blockchain Island’. We have also seen the worst of Japanese regulators cracking the whip with Huobi Pro having to suspend operations in the country. Observing South Korea, the country has stated that it wants to start regulating crypto exchanges the same way it regulates commercial banks.
There is also the Thai SEC that has issued concrete directions towards cryptocurrencies, their exchanges and ICOs in its jurisdicitons. The American SEC has so far issued direction on the cryptocurrencies of BTC and ETH. With these two major cryptocurrencies cleared by the SEC, this means any crypto with similar technology is also not a security. This includes BCH, LTC and ETC.
In conclusion, the second half of 2018 will be an interesting one with respect to the direction Bitcoin and the general cryptocurrency markets take. The general feel and mood is that we at the trough of the wave and that there will be a new peak with a BTC rally coming soon.
