Bitcoin Brings $ 150 Billion Back As Visa, PayPal Rev Up Crypto Deals And ‘Buy The Dip’ Institutions

Top line

After a sharp slump on Thursday that wiped out the market value of 100 billion US dollars, the world’s largest cryptocurrency returned to its all-time high on Tuesday as companies like Visa and PayPal join forces with other institutional players to expand their crypto offerings expand.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has been on the mend since losing $ 100 billion … [+] Day last week.

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Key factors

As of 4:00 p.m. EDT, the price of Bitcoin has increased 2% in the past 24 hours, bringing its market cap to $ 1.1 trillion – about $ 40 billion less than on March 13 – and earnings since then A sharp correction rose to around $ 144 billion on Thursday, according to crypto data website CoinMarketCap.

‘Analysts are continuing the resurgence of still booming institutional adoption, including PayPal’s new cryptocurrency checkout service, launched Tuesday, which enables the company’s more than 375 million customers to shop with cryptocurrency from millions of online merchants (PayPal didn’t provide an exact number, but says the program will expand in the coming months).

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, calls the move “another massive endorsement of cryptocurrency from Wall Street” and “further evidence of mainstream acceptance” just a day after Visa announced it would be using a cryptocurrency partner transaction The processing of tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain underpins the second largest cryptocurrency in the world, Ether.

Moya notes that at around $ 59,080, Bitcoin could struggle to move back above $ 60,000, but says recent developments “should be enough to keep the uptrend going”.

Nigel Green, CEO of the $ 12 billion wealth advisory group, deVere, said in an email Tuesday that growing corporate investments from Tesla and billionaire Jack Dorsey’s Square are signs that institutions are using the retail investor mantra, “Buy” the Dip “. That is, they top up Bitcoin when prices go down.

What to look for

Regulation. Although Wall Street is warming to Bitcoin, legendary hedge fund manager Ray Dalio warned last week that he believes there is a “good chance” that Bitcoin could be banned by the US government, much like it banned gold almost a century ago . The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been slow to enact regulations on cryptocurrencies, but in an interview with Forbes, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said Gary Gensler, President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the agency, was likely “with the call.” agree to the clarity of the regulations ” “When nations like South Korea started cracking down on cryptocurrency three years ago, prices plummeted by as much as 80% within a year, although it is unclear how such a development could affect markets today.

Key background

Bitcoin prices have skyrocketed over the past year due to booming institutional adoption and inflation fears sparked by unprecedented government spending to fight the pandemic. Last week, billionaire Elon Musk tweeted that Tesla would accept Bitcoin for vehicle purchases and keep the cryptocurrency on offer instead of converting it to US dollars. Also earlier that month, Fidelity Investments filed an application for its first publicly traded bitcoin fund, and banking powerhouse Morgan Stanley said it would open bitcoin exposure to its wealthy clients, although it limits such funds to investors with “aggressive risk tolerance.”

Surprising fact

Bitcoin is up nearly 800% over the past year. The return of around 96% this year is more than any other sector covered by the S&P 500.

further reading

SEC Commissioner Explains Why Delayed Bitcoin ETF Has Consequences (Forbes)

Bitcoin Plunge clears $ 100 billion in 24 hours – that is how long the “bloodbath” could last (Forbes)

Legendary investor “likely” warns Bitcoin ban as price suddenly soars towards $ 60,000 (Forbes)