In the cryptocurrency market, some weeks are better than others. And this week, so far, is shaping up to be a strong time for bitcoin amid some positive developments, as the popular cryptocurrency reached almost $7,500 mid-Wednesday after falling to below $5,800 at the end of June.
The week kicked off with the news that BlackRock Inc.was interested in exploring cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology that underpins them. To that end, the firm has formed a working group to study the technology, and BlackRock Chief Executive Larry Fink remarked that the firm is “a big student of blockchain.”
BlackRock’s willingness to look into the blockchain and digital currencies does carry some weight: The firm is the largest asset manager in the world. Its interest can have a bit of a ripple (no pun intended) effect, too, “and [can] encourage other asset managers, even with more conservative strategies, to seriously explore investing in the crypto space,” Black Square Capital Portfolio Manager Chris Yoo told Reuters.
Following the BlackRock news, another positive development surfaced: Coinbase reportedly received the go-ahead from two U.S. watchdogs to acquire Keystone Capital Corporation, Venovate Marketplace, Inc. and Digital Wealth, LLC. (For the record, Coinbase did later say that it had not, in fact, received regulatory approval and didn’t need it).
Either way, the move could help the crypto exchange’s offerings: Coinbase said in June that it would have the licenses to work as an alternative trading system, registered investment advisor and broker dealer. It could reportedly help Coinbase offer security tokens, too.
With all these developments, BitBull Capital CEO Joe DiPasquale told CNBC that “there have been a lot of positive catalysts this week, from Coinbase receiving approval to list security tokens, to BlackRock expressing their interest in crypto assets.” And market observers such as DiPasquale are hopeful that bitcoin will continue on its upward trend.
Whether bitcoin’s momentum will continue remains to be seen – and the cryptocurrency has been on a wild ride for the year. It did rally twice – hitting more than $11,000 and almost $10,000, respectively – before declining to just under $5,000. But if the momentum were to continue, how high could bitcoin go?
Some market observers do have high – very high – hopes for the popular cryptocurrency. Australian bookmaker Tom Waterhouse, for example, tweeted last week that a crypto “expert” wanted to place a bet that a single bitcoin will be worth more than a share of Berkshire Hathaway by 2023.
That’s quite the tall bet, as the price for a Class A share of Berkshire was about $288,000 when the news was reported last week. And, with bitcoin trading at just over $7,000, the cryptocurrency has some ways to go until that better could win his or her wager.
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