Bitcoin price recovers following major KPMG announcement
BTC-related short selling activities have slowed down recently, leading analysts to believe that a mini bull run may be on the cards
- Bitcoin has continued to accrue market support while showcasing increasing correlation with tech stocks.
- Price targets of AUD$67,000, AUD$71,000 and AUD$74,000 (approximately) are attainable for BTC in the near term, as per experts.
- Lightning Network, a layer-2 BTC scaling solution, made its debut on Cash App earlier this week.
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalisation, has been on a tear over the past week, with the flagship cryptocurrency repeatedly testing its AUD$62,500 resistance – registering weekly gains in excess of 13%, in the process. At press time, BTC is trading at a price point of AUD$61,434.
This sudden price jump seems to have caught many folks off-guard, as analysts were predicting the market to be in a bearish mode of operation for another couple of weeks at the very least. Also, earlier this week, Big Four auditor KPMG (Canada) revealed that it has added Bitcoin to its crypto balance sheet with the firm's managing partner Benjie Thomas, referring to ETH and BTC as a "mature asset class".
According to data released by blockchain analytics provider Glassnode, BTC's fundamentals have shown a major "bounce back" with the digital asset's liquidations on futures exchanges currently on the backfoot – especially "shorting-related activities" – thereby suggesting that the ongoing price action may be sustainable.
David Lifchitz, CIO for asset management firm ExoAlpha, pointed out that Bitcoin's value is being driven by a wide range of factors at the moment, including its growing correlation with tech stocks. He also added that while traditional bonds seem to be operating in line with existing market conditions, most stock prices are overly inflated.
Lifchitz noted that over the coming few weeks, the premier cryptocurrency could continue to rise and achieve price targets of AUD$67,000, AUD$71,000 and AUD$74,000 (US$48,000, US$51,000 and US$53,000). However, he also conceded that if bears were to once again take control of the market, Bitcoin could experience a pullback to around the AUD$48,000-$54,500 (US$35,000-$39,000) range.
Bitcoin Lightning Network makes its debut on Cash App
Financial services provider Cash App revealed on 8 Feb that it had incorporated Lightning Network (LN) into its existing operational framework, thereby allowing users to transfer BTC via its mobile-app solution seamlessly. As a result of the development, it is possible for interested individuals to transfer Bitcoin to any Lightning or on-chain BTC address.
The Lightning Network, quite often referred to simply as LN, is a Bitcoin-centric layer-2 solution aiming to help scale the digital currency. On a technical front, the network eases Bitcoin's transaction load by minimising any entanglements as well as reducing fee rates. It also helps make Bitcoin-based transfers faster and more efficient.
PayPal establishes a crypto-advisory team
As per an announcement made earlier this week, US payments giant PayPal has successfully assembled a team of specialists to helm its crypto blockchain team. The company has been able to rope in the services of many industry leaders including Fortress Investment Group co-CEO Peter Briger, MIT Sloan School of Management finance professor Antoinette Schoar and MIT Digital Currency Initiative director Neha Narula, among many others.
On the development, the company's VP for blockchain and crypto, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, was quoted as saying: "We believe it is crucial to engage with the world's best leaders to better understand the industry's most compelling opportunities and complex challenges."
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner's guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing
