Bitcoin price has been on one impressive ‘bull run’ as of late. It wasn’t long ago, about three weeks ago on October 10th, when Bitcoin was trading at under $620, and the buzz was minimal, but the only constant factor within the Bitcoin community is change. Major economic issues in China have forced speculators there to move in on Bitcoin recently, and the start of November saw another spike in demand.
Bitcoin price moved from under $700 to over $735, according to Bitcoin Average, over the course of 36 hours. Is the new SegWit release a major factor?
When will the mainstream media focus on Bitcoin news like this?
It is easy to find mainstream media stories when Bitcoin has a hack or exchange collapse. When Bitcoin price gains over 15% in three weeks, the news is not as quick to spread to the populace. If Gold were up over 80% over the last year (Bitcoin price was $400 on November 1st, 2015,) the greater masses would never hear the end of it. Just food for thought about Bitcoin price worth mentioning.
Reasons for this most recent spike can be a few. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 100 points Tuesday, so, some extra money could have moved into the economic market’s newest ‘safe haven.’ The release of Segregated Witness, or SegWit, may be a factor, as nodes start to adopt the newest addition to the Bitcoin ecosystem. The new tech may be adding fuel to the Bitcoin market, with almost 15% jumping on SegWit in its first week.
Charles Hayter, CEO of CryptoCompare.com, says:
“Segregated Witness’s release is a long-awaited milestone and opens the door for Bitcoin scaling. Although it’s not a 100% certain, there’s a very good chance this is will be the end of the scaling debate. The Bitcoin price has been subject to a number of catalysts over the past month or two, mostly driven by China and its frictionless ‘0%’ trading fee exchanges.”
China’s economic woes and money transfer are always at the heart of any major Bitcoin price movement, given the fact that the country controls well over 90% of all the world’s Bitcoin currency trading. Over half of all Bitcoin have been moved through exchanges just within the last 24 hours, according to Bitcoinity. BTCC in China moved more than 3 mln BTC alone, with OKCoin and Houbi not far behind.
The way things are going, Bitcoin price could threaten $1000 by year’s end, if the Bitcoin Blockchain can handle the building trading volume. SegWit’s activation still seems to be a good bit away, but that can only help the freedom of the market expand.