Benzinga - by Mehab Qureshi, Benzinga Staff Writer.
Major cryptocurrencies traded mixed on Wednesday evening as Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, concluded the ‘Duncun’ upgrade.
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 9:30 p.m. EDT) |
| Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) | +1.39% | $72,994 |
| Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) | -1.19% | $3,985 |
| Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) | -2.47% | $0.16 |
What Happened: The Dencun upgrade, described as a hard fork in blockchain terminology, was implemented at 9:55 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. This upgrade aims to stimulate expansion on layer-2 networks such as Arbitrum and Polygon by lowering their data fees.
It should be noted that the upgrade did not have any price impact on Bitcoin.
On Wednesday, BTC reached a new all-time high of over $73,600 per coin. The surge can be attributed to the ongoing prosperity of spot BTC ETFs, experiencing unprecedented inflows due to escalating interest from conventional investors.
Meanwhile, MicroStrategy aims to secure an additional $500 million through a bond offering, in line with its strategy to expand its Bitcoin holdings. This comes shortly after the successful completion of a comparable debt sale, as stated in a March 13 press release.
Top Gainer (24 Hour)
| Cryptocurrency | Gains +/- | Price (Recorded 9:30 p.m. EDT) |
| Dogwifhat (CRYPTO: WIF) | +32.38% | $2.86 |
| Pepe (CRYPTO: PEPE) | +21.14% | $0.00000991 |
| PanCakeSwap (CRYPTO: CAKE) | +16.61% | $4.96 |
The global cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $2.7 trillion, showing a 1.73% increase in the past 24 hours.
Stocks closed lower on Wednesday, struggling to maintain momentum from the previous session. Nvidia retracted, contributing to the decline alongside the broader technology sector.
The S&P 500 was down on Wednesday, declining by 0.19% and closed at 5,165.31. Additionally, the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.54% to 16,177.77.
Crypto exchange Coinbase stock saw an increase of approximately 3%, while MicroStrategy surged by nearly 10%. In the crypto mining sector, Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms, and Iris Energy each gained over 2%.
See More: Best Cryptocurrency Scanners
Analyst Notes: Cryptocurrency analyst Michael Van de Poppe predicts a quick bounce and continued upward momentum for Bitcoin, fueled by the Asian trading hours. He suggests that Bitcoin is likely to test $73,000 today.
"Reminder: Corrections do happen, last week we had a 15% liquidity flush as well."
Quick bounce and #Bitcoin continue the upward momentum, fueled by the Asian trading hours.Likely we'll be testing $73,000 today.
Reminder: Corrections do happen, last week we had a 15% liquidity flush as well. pic.twitter.com/y1UKquaIr7
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) March 13, 2024
Ki Young Ju, the founder and CEO of the on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, made a forecast regarding a potential turning point in the supply of Bitcoin.
"Bears can't win this game until spot Bitcoin ETF inflow stops," Ki said. "Last week, spot ETFs saw netflows of +30K BTC. Known entities like exchanges and miners hold around 3M BTC, including 1.5M BTC by US entities. At this rate, we’ll see a sell-side liquidity crisis within 6 months."
Bears can't win this game until spot #Bitcoin ETF inflow stops.Last week, spot ETFs saw netflows of +30K BTC. Known entities like exchanges and miners hold around 3M BTC, including 1.5M BTC by US entities.
At this rate, we'll see a sell-side liquidity crisis within 6 months. pic.twitter.com/qwAbZJwSOl
— Ki Young Ju (@ki_young_ju) March 12, 2024
According to crypto analyst Ali Martinez, Bitcoin experienced a peak 367 days after the 2012 halving. Following the 2016 halving, it surged to a market top in 526 days, and after the 2020 halving, it took 547 days to reach its peak.
"Though there may be slight dips along the way, historical patterns suggest we are far away from a BTC market top."
AllianceBernstein analysts predicted in a research note that Bitcoin is poised for continued growth. According to analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra, Bitcoin’s value has the potential to reach $150,000 per coin by 2025.
Photo by Igor Faun on Shutterstock
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