On May 13th, buy pressure pushed the bitcoin price up more than 13 percent to $8,100 USD on Coinbase, after which the OG crypto saw consolidation around the $8,000 mark.
The advance, which boosted bitcoin’s market capitalization to $140 billion and its price $1,000 intraday, comes after BTC hit $7,500 over the weekend for the first time since last September. Indeed, Monday’s buy pressure led to nearly $30 billion in 24-hour bitcoin volume — a staggering sum for such a span that indicates the day’s trading frenzy.
With bitcoin’s fresh advance beyond the $6,500 resistance point now appearing even more decisive, more cryptoeconomy analysts are seeing their doubts dissipate on whether the space’s last bearish phase — which downed some crypto prices more than 95 percent — really is in the rearview mirror.
Looking at the numbers, there’s been plenty of green as of late, too. After bitcoin’s Monday gains, the coin is up 56 percent on the month and up 121 percent on the quarter. BTC is also up 1,680 percent over the last five years and is now down just seven percent from its price one year ago, when the bear market was still raging.
The green day for bitcoin marked a boon for the other top cryptocurrencies, as well — particularly for the big-cap and mid-cap projects. Ether (ETH) gained 10 percent, breaking through $200 and up past $210. XRP spiked 21 percent, hitting $0.39. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) rose 10 percent to $399. Litecoin gained five percent, reaching $91.
The markets’ rapid movements were undoubtedly spurred, at least in part, by a flurry of major revelations that hit the cryptocurrency ecosystem on Monday.
Microsoft, Bakkt, Flexa, eBay, Oh My!
Without a doubt, May 13th saw no shortage of high-profile crypto headlines.
First and foremost came Microsoft’s preview release of ION, a new decentralized identity (DID) network the enterprise has built atop Bitcoin. ION will allow users a way to privately and digitally self-secure their identities. As Microsoft Identity Division’s VP of Program Management Alex Simons explained in his announcement of the effort, the goal is user empowerment:
“We believe every person needs a decentralized, digital identity they own and control, backed by self-owned identifiers that enable secure, privacy preserving interactions. This self-owned identity must seamlessly integrate into their lives and put them at the center of everything they do in the digital world.”
Microsoft’s anchoring of the DID tool on Bitcoin combined with the company’s expansive reach — in numerous senses of the word — understandably excited bitcoin traders and crypto ecosystem proponents.
Beyond ION, forthcoming crypto exchange Bakkt — which is backed by the owner-operators of the NYSE — also generated buzz in announcing it was preparing to test its bitcoin futures contracts out starting in July, a sign the platform is coming that much closer to going fully live.
Crypto startup Flexa also simultaneously made waves in partnering up with Gemini to let users pay with crypto at mainstream stores like Barnes & Noble, Lowes, and Office Depot. Lastly there was eBay, whose unveiled ads at the opening day of the Consensus conference teased the online marketplace as gearing up to accept crypto payments.
What’s Next for Bitcoin
Will bitcoin’s surge here prove sustainable in the short-term, or has it just been temporarily buoyed by a spurt of positive headlines?
Commenting on the uptrend, Blockonomi trade analyst Nikola Lazić said if bitcoin can hold its ground above “the significant resistance area around $6250 – 6500,” then a bull market would be all but certain:
“This breakout is highly significant as it could indicate the end of the bear market but the price now needs to hold above it before for a proper confirmation.”
Of course, rising up to $8,100 isn’t a bad start for bitcoin as the crypto’s traders accordingly hope to see it hold ground above its previous resistance zone.
