Bitcoin Price Hits Highest Since Nov 2018, Jumps 14%

In a surprise comeback on Tuesday, Bitcoin, world’s largest crypto or digital currency surged 14 percent and hit almost $4800. At Luxembourg’s Bitstamp the digital token even touched the $5000 mark for a while.

This was a huge jump after a massive slump for the cryptocurrency market since November 2018.

The update by CoinMarketCap said, more than $14 billion has been added to Bitcoin’s market value in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin fell more than 76 percent in 2018 after the all-time high of nearly $20,000 in December 2017.

“Bitcoin has been trading range bound for a while now and shaking off some of the negative sentiment that it accrued in 2018,” commented Charles Hayter, chief executive of digital currency comparison firm CryptoCompare.

Mysterious order helped in breaching resistance level

Many experts attributed Tuesday’s Bitcoin price surge to the breach of resistance level and breakout from the closely-watched level of $4,200. For months, Bitcoin had been languishing in the $4,000 mark.

The boost for Bitcoin also graced other virtual currencies such as Ether and XRP up 7 percent each.

Mati Greenspan, a market analyst at trading platform eToro said Bitcoin's break above $4,200 has been a critical milestone. Greenspan said certain algorithmic trades could have supplemented it after hitting the higher level.

A Reuters report said a major order by an anonymous buyer triggered the new frenzy.

Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, chief executive of London-based cryptocurrency firm BCB Group said the push for Bitcoin trade believed to have come from an algorithmic order worth $100 million across many exchanges including U.S.-based Coinbase and Kraken, and Luxembourg’s Bitstamp.

The single order seemed to have been algorithmically-managed in many venues of around 20,000 BTC, Oliver observed.

He said going by the volumes on each of these exchanges it is apparent that they had been in sync with units of volume in the range of 7,000 BTC in an hour.

Charlie Hayter also noted that outsized price moves as seen now are rare in traditional markets. But they are common in cryptocurrency markets where liquidity is almost nil and prices are opaque. Big orders can spark buying by algorithmic traders.

Margins up in Bitcoin mining

Meanwhile, bitcoin mining margins are improving after the worst downturn. After the Bitcoin market slump, many cryptocurrency mining establishments had shut down or lost contracts.

But a revival in bitcoin mining fortunes is happening according to blockchain research group Diar. After the worst months of the downturn, February’s mining revenue was the lowest in the last 19 months at just $195 million 10 percent less than January.

Gross margins stand the difference between revenue and cost incurred on goods. The margins narrowed from 94 percent in January 2018 to 32 percent in January 2019.

In February 2019, signs of market improvement came out with the gross margins showing improvement to 39 percent. Gross margins are calculated by the value of cryptocurrencies mined, reward value and electricity cost. Signs of life in Bitcoin mining indicate a concrete market revival.