Bitcoin and ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies, have struggled so far in 2022—with some predicting further falls could be coming.
The bitcoin price, after crashing from its November peak of almost $70,000 per bitcoin, lost 50% of its value before rebounding slightly this month. Ethereum and other top ten cryptocurrencies BNB, solana, cardano and XRP, have also bounced from their lows but remain highly volatile.
Now, as the crypto market braces for a huge $10 trillion earthquake, data has revealed the bitcoin network’s computing power hit an all-time high over the weekend, just as investors finally began putting cash back into ethereum funds, breaking a 9-week run of outflows.
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The bitcoin price has recovered some ground since its huge sell-off but its rally has recently … [+]
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Bitcoin’s hashrate—a measure of the computing power used by the bitcoin network—hit an all-time high over the weekend, reaching 248.11 million tera hashes per second on Saturday. While bitcoin’s hashrate isn’t directly correlated to its price, it has rocketed higher along with the bitcoin price over the last two years.
A higher bitcoin hashrate indicates an increase in so-called bitcoin miners who use high-powered computers to secure the bitcoin network in return for freshly-minted bitcoins.
Meanwhile, data has shown institutional investors may be feeling more upbeat about ethereum following weeks of uncertainty.
“Ethereum finally broke its 9-week spell of outflows with inflows totaling $21 million last week,” CoinShares analysts wrote in their latest Digital Asset Fund Flows report, with combined crypto funds seeing inflows of $75 million, adding to inflows over the last four weeks of $209 million.
“The inflows remain relatively minor in comparison to the inflows seen in Q4 2021,” the report authors wrote. “There are some regional variances, with $5.5 million of outflows in the Americas and $80.7 million of inflows into European investment products.”
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The bitcoin price swung wildly through 2021 and has struggled to gain momentum so far this year. … [+]
The crypto market is meanwhile nervously eyeing the outcome of escalating tensions in Ukraine after Washington warned a Russian invasion could be imminent.
“Bitcoin and the wider digital token space have edged into the red zone today amid a sense of nervousness sweeping across all financial markets,” the Bitfinex trading team wrote in an emailed note.
“We may once again see bitcoin converge with stocks and other risk assets, amid growing concern of a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. While by their very nature financial markets are driven by sentiment, of which geopolitical risks are of critical importance, one should never lose sight of the unique value proposition—and future potential—that bitcoin embodies.”
