The price of bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $11,800 in the past week as the cryptocurrency’s positive momentum continues.
While many believe that the price of bitcoin has gone up too high too quickly, which would suggest that a sharp correction could be just around the corner, the new money flowing into bitcoin is pushing the price of bitcoin up the new highs for several weeks in a row now – albeit with quite some volatility.
After bitcoin’s highs near $11,400 on November 29, the price of bitcoin dropped by almost 20 percent within 24 hours, only to recover above the $11,000 mark again over the weekend and push toward $11,800.
That new inflows into bitcoin have been fuelled by the announcement that Nasdaq intends to launch bitcoin futures in mid-2018 and the CME’s regulatory approval to start trading bitcoin futures in mid-December as well as growing bitcoin awareness as bitcoin is going mainstream as an investment asset.
The altcoin market also experienced a stellar week with cryptocurrencies such as DASH, monero (XMR), IOTA (IOTA), and litecoin (LTC) hitting new all-time highs as bitcoin’s appreciation is also pulling up other coins during this year-end rally.
This week’s review is compiled from contributions by Joseph Young, Priyeshu Garg, and Rahul Nambiampurath, and Robert DeVoe.
Study Reveals at Least $26.4 Billion Worth of Bitcoin Lost Forever
According to research conducted by cryptocurrency-focused digital forensics company Chainalysis, at least 2.78 million bitcoins are forever lost on the Bitcoin blockchain network. This number could even be as high as 3.79 million bitcoins.
At today’s market price, 2.78 million bitcoins are equivalent to roughly $26.4 billion, given that the price of bitcoin has increased nearly 37 percent, from $6,000 to $9,500 in the past month. Using empirical data provided by the transparent Bitcoin network, the Chainalysis research team calculated the number of bitcoins that are “out of circulation.”
Bitcoin Exchange Regulations Near Completion in South Korea
It has been reported that the authorities in South Korea are getting close to finishing a set of regulations that are related to cryptocurrency exchanges and bitcoin.
The financial authority and regulator in South Korea is the Financial Services Commission (FSC), and they have outlined how these regulations are going to take shape. Their primary focus is to ensure that cryptocurrency exchanges play by their rules and maintain a strict hold on the sector in the country.
The regulatory body announced in 2016 that they had plans to bring in specific regulations related to the bitcoin exchanges, focusing mainly on areas of licensing and regulatory parameters. They want to systemize digital currencies in the same manner as in other developed countries like Japan and the United States.
Iran’s HCC Welcomes Bitcoin with Regulations
The High Council of Cyberspace in Iran (HCC) has announced its acceptance of bitcoin in Iran, albeit under strict regulations. Although cautious in its initial approach, the Iranian authority spoke positively about the future of the use of cryptocurrency in its society. With the aim of keeping all bases covered, the HCC has imposed strict regulations to govern the use of bitcoin and altcoin in the country.
Secretary of the HCC, Abolhassan Firouzabadi spoke of the above to ILNA, a local news agency, of the acceptance of bitcoin. He expressed that there are already a large number of people in Iran who are dealing with the cryptocurrency in various ways…
Read Full: Bitcoin’s Rally “to the Moon” Seems Unstoppable as CME Futures are Approved: Week in Review Dec 4
