JOHANNESBURG – Bitcoin is finally on the verge of breaking out of the bearish sentiment that has gripped the cryptocurrency market, affirms the chief executive of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory organisations.
The comments from Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, follow surging Bitcoin prices at the end of last week.
On Friday, the world’s largest and original digital currency jumped around 10 per cent within 24 hours, pushing past $3,700 for the first time in three weeks.
Green said: “It was a relatively sudden jump, and, of course, positive news for those currently holding Bitcoin. “However, the price only reached the top of the trading range and investors should not be popping champagne corks just yet.”
“There are three likely drivers of Bitcoin’s price spike. First, there are widely published reports that according to a leaked interview with a commissioner, a Bitcoin ETF could imminently secure approval from the US securities watchdog," said Green.
“Second, the development of the lightning network which will dramatically improve Bitcoin’s well-documented scalability issues, allowing it to move towards mass adoption and third, the 2020 Bitcoin halving. The code for mining Bitcoin halves around every four years and the next one is set for May 2020. When the code halves, miners receive 50 per cent fewer coins every few minutes. History shows that there is typically a considerable Bitcoin surge resulting from halving events.”
“Bitcoin is the flagship cryptocurrency and, as such, we can expect when its values climb, it will drive prices of other major digital currencies such as Ethereum and XRP," said Green.