Bitcoin Fails To Break $12,000: The Weekly Market Report

This week has been quite the ride on the cryptocurrency markets, and, of course, Bitcoin was in the spotlight, at least for a while.

The price started at around $11,700 and stayed there for a few days until Monday when we saw a significant move forward as BTC reached about $12,500. The cryptocurrency community was ecstatic that the coveted $12,000 mark was broken, but unfortunately, the euphoria was shortlived.

Just a day later, Bitcoin started dropping and come Wednesday, the price was already below $12,000. Ultimately, BTC is currently trading at around $11,760, which is more or less the same as the beginning of the week.

It’s also worth noting that there’s a striking correlation between the price of Bitcoin and gold, especially in the past 24 hours.

gold_btc_chart — Bitcoin and Gold Price Chart. Source: TradingView

However, we also saw something that hasn’t been experienced since the early days of ZCASH. Back when the coin was launched, for a very brief period, ZEC was trading at a price higher than one BTC.

Now, YFI, the governance token of Yearn Finance, has become the second altcoin to do so. In fact, just today, the team announced that they’ve managed to hit $1 billion in total value locked, representing an increase upwards of 12,000% in just one month.

What this goes to show is that the DeFi craze continues to boom as lending protocols across the industry have collectively gathered more than $6.7 billion in value locked.

Elsewhere, the whole industry is seeing increased interest, as Google searches for the “buy crypto” keyword are at their highest level since the ICO boom. Meanwhile, Binance also confirmed that they’re receiving system traffic like never before.

It’s out of the question that there’s a lot of hype on the market, primarily driven by the DeFi boom. It’s interesting to see how things will unfold in the coming week.

Market Data

Market Cap: $367B | 24H Vol: 103B | BTC Dominance: 59.1%

BTC: $11,772 (-0.72%) | ETH: $405 (-2.40%) | XRP: $0.286 (-2.19%)

Google Searches For Buy Crypto At Highest Point Since January 2018. Data from Google Trends indicates that there’s a massive spike in the interest in cryptocurrency. In fact, “buy crypto” searches are at their highest level since the ICO boom in early 2018. Interest in specific cryptocurrencies is also on the rise.

The Crypto Phenomenon Cannot be Ignored, Says US Banking Regulator. In an interview with CNN, the acting Comptroller of the Currency in the US said that the “crypto phenomenon” cannot be ignored. He’s also the one who recently allowed banks to offer cryptocurrency custody services.

Swipe (SXP) Greenlighted to Enter US Markets. Swipe, the cryptocurrency wallet and card provider that recently got acquired by Binance, announced that it has received the green light to begin offering its services to the US market. The company serves over 31 countries.

Yearn Finance (YFI) Just Broke a Record Not Seen Since ZCASH Launch In 2016. For the first time since 2016, there’s an altcoin that is trading at a price higher than one BTC. This is YFI, the governance token of Yearn Finance – the protocol that is currently at the forefront of the ongoing DeFi boom.

2017 Here: Binance System Traffic Records All-Time High. In a recent statement, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, revealed that they’ve received system traffic higher than that in 2017. This is a signal of the increasing interest in the industry.

The New McAfee: Dave Portnoy Forgets About Bitcoin and Starts Shilling Low-Cap Altcoins To His 1.7M Followers. Dave Portnoy, a well-known legacy markets day trader with over 1.7 million followers on social media, has started shilling different cryptocurrencies. Some members of the community pointed out the similarities between him and John McAfee.