Bitcoin's non-price metrics have begun 2020 with a bang.
The SegWit adoption rate has hit a record high of 69 percent, according to segwit.space.
Segregated Witness, or SegWit technology, frees up block space or capacity to add more transactions by removing signature data from bitcoin transactions.
The adoption rate rose from 33 percent to 61 percent in the five weeks to Oct. 5, having struggled to rise above the 50 percent mark since April 2018.
The move above 50 percent happened with cryptocurrency exchanges Bitfinex adding support for a SegWit address format called Bech32 specified in the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 0173.
The percentage of transactions using SegWit could rise further if Binance, the world's biggest exchange by trading volume, adds support to the technology by the end of the first quarter, as tweeted by CEO Changpeng Zhao on Oct. 2.
Tron founder Justin Sun recently said that the cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex would launch full SegWit support along with Binance in 2020.
SegWit was introduced by Bitcoin core developer Peter Wuille. However, some bitcoin developers and users decided to initiate a hard fork in order to avoid the SegWit protocol updates, leading to chain split and the creation of a new cryptocurrency called bitcoin cash.
Hash rate hits record high
Bitcoin's hash rate - the mining power dedicated to the blockchain - hit a new record high of 119 exahashes per second (EH/s), passing the previous high of 114 EH/s reached in October.
The non-price metric increased considerably over 2019, rising from a weekly average of 40 EH/s at the beginning of the year to 80 EH/s by September, as noted by CoinDesk's Paddy Baker.
Bitcoin's price rose from $4,000 to $13,880 in the second quarter of 2019 and diverged from the hash rate in the second half with a drop to multi-month lows below $6,500. |
SPONSOR SECTION  Nexo is the world’s leading crypto banking institution. With $1B processed, the company aims to maximize the value of digital assets by offering tax-efficient ‘Instant Crypto Credit Lines,’ high-yield ‘Earn Interest’ products and ‘Send & Pay’ features to our 500K+ users across 200 jurisdictions. Learn More |
 
|
Bitcoin Draws Bids Amid US-Iran Tensions
BTC: Price: $7,560 | Market cap: $137.68 billion | 24-Hr Volume: $21.07 billion
Short-term trend: Bullish
Bitcoin picked up a bid at lows near $6,850 on Friday after the the U.S. launched an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport, killing top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Since then, the top cryptocurrency has rallied by nearly 10 percent to levels above $6,500. The price rise has reinforced the narrative put forward by the likes of billionaire investor Michael Novogratz that bitcoin is a safe haven.
Stronger buying pressure could emerge in the next few hours, possibly yielding a convincing move above resistance at $7,580. That would confirm an inverse head-and-shoulders breakout or a bearish-to-bullish trend change on the daily chart.
Supporting the case for breakout is the 14-day relative strength index, which is currently reporting the strongest bullish bias in two months.
A breakout, if confirmed, would create room for at least a $1,000 rally (target as per the measured move method).
A failure to hold above today's low of $7,342 would validate the bearish view put forward by the descending 10-week moving average and likely yield a retest of $6,850. Long-term trend: Neutral
Bitcoin's monthly MACD histogram has dropped below zero, signaling a bearish reversal. The cryptocurrency is trapped in a five-month bearish channel.
Even so, the outlook remains neutral, as the MACD is a lagging indicator. Further, the miners’ reward halving, usually a price-bullish event, is due in May 2020.
With BTC looking oversold after a 50 percent drop from June highs above $13,800, a notable recovery ahead of the supply-cutting event can’t be ruled out – more so, as the 50-week MA has crossed above the 100-week MA, confirming the first golden bull cross since May 2016.
After all, the previous bull cross had marked the start of a long-term bull market. The cryptocurrency picked up a strong bid near $430 following the bull cross confirmation in May 2016 and charted its way a record high around $20,000 in December 2017.
That said, the outlook as per the weekly chart would turn bullish only if and when prices break higher from the six-month long bearish channel.
Read Analysis
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Beam It Up, Scotty BEAM: Price: $0.60 | MCAP: $30.9 million | 24-Hr Volume: $20.75 million
Short-term trend: Cautiously bullish
BEAM is one of today's top performing crypto assets, currently up 11.3 percent over a 24-hour period as prices made for a break above the 50-day moving average (MA).
Yesterday (Jan. 5) volume experienced the highest spike since Oct. 20, 2019, indicating strong investor interest in the short-term.
An experiment with Mimblewimble, BEAM offers "superior" base layer scalability by reducing the amount of data put through and stored in the blockchain and offering complete base layer privacy.
MimbleWimble is a blockchain protocol with a different implementation of a proof-of-work (PoW) that is designed for increased privacy and better network scalability.
Long-term trend: Neutral
A recent top between $0.62-0.64 stands as the more likely defined area of resistance for the bulls to surpass in coming days, lest they endure another sell-off within the range between $0.64 and $0.49 that has raged for over a month.
The Daily RSI is demonstrating bullish price action above neutral 50.00 (58.00) and would be considered bearish should the index fall back below the neutral range, coupled with strong levels of selling volume.
 |
|
|
|
|
| | | Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments. |
|
| | | | |
Geopolitical Hedge?