Cryptocurrency update: ETH nets new all-time high on crypto rally

Ethereum notches a new peak while Bitcoin heads skywards as a fresh cryptocurrency rally takes hold of the market.

Cryptocurrency update

Ethereum pushes to new all-time high as cryptos rally worldwide

ETH broke above $4,740 for the first time today as tokens make gains across the board. This is a new all-time high for the world’s second larges crypto by market cap.

Ethereum has made about 4% on the day and continues to trade into the green. At the time of writing, it had pulled back slightly to $4,731, but still the token is starting the week off strongly.

This latest rally can be attributed to a rise in interest in decentralised finance (DeFi).

There appears to be a growing global movement to build decentralised financial and trading platforms using blockchain technology. The Ethereum blockchain network is a key component of many DeFi platforms, such as the Uniswap exchange. Developers working on the Ethereum blockchain must use ETH coins to pay small fees, which gives the token more practical use than some of its rivals.

Ethereum is also a central part of the burgeoning non-fungible tokens sector.

A new upgrade, Ethereum 2.0, is currently being worked up too. The network’s developers believe this will be more user friendly and cheaper to run in terms of ETH fees, thus could see an even larger uptake in the future.

While the token is very strong today, improved regulation in the decentralised finance space could put paid to future expansion. Some believe a crackdown on the “Wild West” of DeFi is on the way, which could prove devastating.

Is Bitcoin on the way to $70k?

Bitcoin jumped above $66,000 in Monday morning trading, resuming an upside move as yields real bond yields slid.

BTC is starting to be seen as a store of value, in a similar way to gold, so investors may be using the token to hedge against inflation and falling yields. The jury is still out on whether an asset as volatile as Bitcoin can be truly seen as a wealth store, but the winds may be blowing that way.

Looking to blockchain-related performance, Bitcoin appears to be in a bullish mood. The hash rate, the rate at which new tokens are mined, has increased. This is despite China clamping down hard on miners and flat out banning domestic crypto transactions. Most of the world’s mining infrastructure was previously located in China. That is no longer the case.

Miners have accumulated 3,000 Bitcoin tokens in their blockchain wallets since September. This comes despite the clampdown and the fact the mining difficulty level has seen an eightfold increase since July. It should be that tokens are getting rarer – Bitcoin will only ever have a lifetime supply of 21 million coins – but the fact the hash rate is increasing suggest more rigs are operational worldwide.

In terms of accumulation, whales, i.e., entities holding more than 1,000 Bitcoin tokens in their wallets, snapped up 142,000 BTC units in the last week of October. That brings the monthly total up to 200,000 whale token acquisitions – the highest volume in 2021 so far.

Full steam ahead? Could Bitcoin be on its way to $70? Possibly. The token’s previous all-time high was over $67,000 in September- but volatility is the watchword when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Let’s wait and see.

Tesla crypto token traders predict big fall after Elon Musk’s Twitter poll

We’ve managed to go a fair while without mentioning billionaire Twitter hound and crypto fiend Elon Musk in these pages.

However, this is something worth mentioning. Tesla crypto token traders are predicting a 6.8% share price drop after Musk’s latest Twitter shenanigans.

Markets.com Chief Markets Analyst Neil Wilson has written more about Musk’s unusual Twitter moves here, but the long and short of it is, he logged onto Twitter and asked his millions of users if he should sell around $21bn of Tesla shares.

CEOs generally don’t do that type of thing. If they are going to divest themselves of some of their shares, they’ll do it on the quiet before markets twig.

Since then, on the FTX crypto exchange Sunday afternoon, Tesla tokens have traded for $1,139, or 6.8% below where the real stock closed on November 5^th.

Not a great sign for the EV pioneers. We’ll know more once Wall Street wakes up, but it’s an interesting bit of self-sabotage in the name of naked publicity. That’s Elon for you.