Top Movers
- Bitcoin is up 24% since the previous week, continuing the rally started in April.
- NEM, an altcoin currently occupying the #18 slot of cryptos by market cap, experienced 93.14% growth over the previous week.
- Stellar, the #9 altcoin by market cap, saw a 50.13% rise this past week.
- Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, a pharma firm specializing in treating rare diseases, rose 42.01% over the week thanks to stronger-than-expected Q1 earnings.
- Roan Resources, an oil and gas company, lost 31.57% after Q1 earnings significantly underperformed Wall Street expectations.
Bitcoin Keeps Rising, $11,500 In Sight
The doldrums are finally over for Bitcoin bulls, and there’s good reason to believe it’ll stick. Analysts have identified five separate catalysts pushing the leading cryptocurrency into an upwards trend.
First, Bitcoin demand has risen twice as high as supply on major exchanges, and trade volumes are up 221%month-over-month. Second, the net position of small traders on US futures exchanges is 81.14% net long for Bitcoin. Third, there’s good historical evidence that the tumult in traditional markets thanks to the US-China trade war is giving investors a reason to flee into Bitcoin. Fourth, technical analysis indicates momentum for an upward trend, and finally, Bitcoin fundamentals, including improving giving bulls increasing confidence in the cryptocurrency network.
Sounds like adoption is well on its way! Not entirely, but it does show that Bitcoin is maturing as an asset. Cryptocurrency trading platforms like Monfexare busy expanding their coin pairs, and discourse around Bitcoin is increasingly being dominated by academics and financial experts instead of tech forum-goers.
Anything to watch out for? Despite all the good news, there are still hurdles waiting for Bitcoin. Hacking remains rampant, and several major exchanges, as well as Tether, a USD-pegged stablecoin responsible for much of Bitcoin’s liquidity, remain under investigation by US authorities.
But even critics are changing their minds: Critics like Mark Mobius, a veteran investor, who just last year claimed Bitcoin was a fraud, are now saying that Bitcoin will be alive and well in the future. Of course, proponents like Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak have been consistent supporters, with the Woz saying that he believes only Bitcoin is pure digital gold.
Wut We Think: All the signs are pointing in Bitcoin’s favor, giving the top cryptocurrency a much-needed boost after a long bear stretch. Considering the signals pushingBitcoin trends upwards,it seems like a good bet that, aside from some inevitable minor corrections, Bitcoin is on track to hit $11,500in the near future.
A Rising Tide Lifts All Altcoins And Facebook Isn’t Missing Out
Bitcoin may be going up, up, and away, but major altcoins aren’t being left behind. Top altcoins, including Ethereum, Ripple, and Stellar, have all seen a minimum of a 25% increase compared with the previous week, and total market capitalization is more than 23.5% higher than the previous week as well.
In addition, Facebook’s secretive‘ Project Libra’ native cryptocurrency project is driving other companies to accelerate their crypto and blockchain plans.
Who else is getting into the crypto game? Honestly? It’s starting to seem like nearly everyone. The German government recently announced plans for a new European Blockchain Institute, luxury brand owner LVMH (owner of brands like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior) is launching a blockchain system to combat knock-off and fraudulent copies, and even old finance stalwarts like the World Bank are starting bond trades on the blockchain.
Mass adoption when? While crypto fans have been crowing about mass adoption coming just around the corner for years, both critics and disinterested observers have noted that none of those predictions have come true. On the other hand, Telegram’s Gram coin and Facebook’s cryptocurrency may change all that, giving the massive user bases of those two companies instant access to cryptocurrency.
Does that mean social network tokens are the future of crypto? Well, yes and no. It’s clear that being able to leverage hundreds of millions of users into cryptocurrency adoption is a gamechanger, but traditional cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum still have a place as a way to run decentralized apps, develop smart contracts, and stay free of centralized control.
Wut We Think: It’s been historically true that if Bitcoin is doing well, altcoins are sure to follow, and that hasn’t changed yet. Bitcoin’sincreasing maturity as an asset gives more credence to the crypto space as a whole, and the entire industry might be ripe for disruption once Facebook’s crypto project and the Gram token enter the fray. While details on launch dates are scarce, it’s certainly an exciting time to be a cryptocurrency investor.
Huawei Feels the Heat as the Trade War Ramps Up
China’s #1 smartphone company is one of the biggest casualties of the trade war...with US President Donald Trump 7% fall to prevent Huawei equipment from being sold in the US. The US Department of Commerce likewise banned US companies from doing business with Huawei. Huawei’s banning comes hand in hand with an overall ban on telecommunications equipment from foreign adversaries, which the US administration has shown includes China.
How have the markets reacted? Surprisingly well considering the trade war tensions. TheDow rose .45%, the S&P .58%, and the Nasdaq rose 1.13% at the time of printing. Those rises may have to do with the US administration indicating that it may delay tariff implementation for up to 6 months.
Will the US be affected? There’s a good chance that 5G rollout in the United States will be delayed, as US companies don’t manufacture many of the needed components for the new technology. However, Huawei-assisted 5G plans in western Europe, especially the UK, are still moving forward.
Any upsides from the ban? Competitor telecom companies Ericsson and Nokia both saw their stocks rise following the announcement, as they’re the leading European companies in telecom.
Wut We Think: The Chinese company still faces major shortages of key components, as it heavily relies on US company Qualcomm, and most of the alternatives, like Intel and Broadcom, are also American businesses. Key Huawei partners have also taken hits on the market. Unless a trade deal is reached soon, telecoms as a whole seem to be in for a bumpy ride..