Market Recap
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum made strong breakouts this week. Bitcoin crossed $18,000 at midweek and briefly rallied above $19,000 on Saturday, approaching the all-time high of $20,089 recorded in December 2017. By the end of the week, it once retraced below $18,000 but the bulls gained control at this level afterwards. The open interest of BTC options and futures also continued to make new record highs, reaching $4.6B and $7B respectively. The booming leverage market may further propel the price to new levels.
Meanwhile, Ethereum surged by more than 8% on Friday, surpassing $500 for the first time since July 2018. By the end of the week, it managed to stay above $550. Bitcoin’s dominance in market capitalization once hit 67%, but it dipped below 65% afterwards with the strong rallies of Ethereum and other altcoins.
Overall, all indices increased. The price, volume and volatility index grew by 17.16%, 42.95% and 15.29% respectively. All tokens saw a growth in these three indices.
Price Index
All tokens’ prices rose.
Top 3 gainers: XRP (+63.6%), XLM (+28.53%), EOS (+21.61%)
Benchmark: BTC (+14.81%)
Many large-cap altcoins saw significant gains, pushing the crypto market capitalization to new highs (ref). All the top 3 gainers’ price surges were supported by strong buying demand as they also occupied the top 3 increases in trading volume.
The number of new account activations on the XRP ledger hit a one-year high, driven by the hype surrounding the Flare Networks snapshot on 12 December (ref). This could help fuel XRP’s bullish price actions (ref).
EOS stayed on top at the latest public blockchain technology ranking issued by the Chinese Center for Information and Industry Development (ref).
Volume Index
All tokens’ volume increased.
Top 3 increase: XRP (+157.06%), XLM (+106.43%), EOS (+91.88%)
Benchmark: BTC (+31.18%)
Stellar announced its partnership with Settle Network to issue two stablecoins respectively tied to the Argentine peso and the Brazilian real (ref).
Volatility Index
All tokens’ volatility surged.
Top 3 increase: XRP (+441.91%), XLM (+305.8%), EOS (+239.37%)
Benchmark: BTC (+39.54%)
Top News
ETH price crosses $500, Ethereum hashrate reaches a new all-time high;
Ethereum’s Rise Above $500 Coincided With a Spike in ETH 2.0 Deposits
China’s Crypto Miners Struggle to Pay Power Bills as Regulators Clamp Down on OTC Desks
Crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital files for massive $134 million raise
Chinese Crypto Mogul Emerges After Probe That Forced OKEx Halt