Cryptoasset markets made another move higher today (Feb. 23), building on strong gains from earlier in the week. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and EOS (EOS) are among the climbing digital assets.
Bitcoin led the charge by a few minutes, gaining roughly 5% and breaking the $4,000 mark on all exchanges. The breakout came following about five days of consolidation after another impressive breakout, on Feb. 18.
In fact, February has been a fantastic month all around, with Bitcoin gaining now over 20% over three straight breakouts, during the month. Despite Bitcoin’s gains, however, BTC dominance is down overall during the month, from highs of about 53.8% to, now, 51.7%, according to available data. The breakout as a whole added about $5 billion worth of market capitalization.
(source: CryptoCompare)
The story is largely the same in the case of Ethereum, except the numbers are much larger. Ethereum has put on about 55% versus the dollar during February alone – and nearly doubling since December’s sub-$100 lows.
In the last few hours, Ethereum put up about 8% in gains versus the dollar. All other top-ten assets, excepting stablecoins, have seen similar action in the past few hours.
(source: CryptoCompare)
Record Volume
CryptoGlobe reported yesterday (Feb. 22) on the unprecedented trading volume on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s (CME) Bitcoin futures product, which is one of the only US-regulated Bitcoin derivatives exchanges. Bitcoin buying reached an all-time-high on that platform during trading on Feb. 19 – but because it is ultimately a traditional exchange and closed on the weekends, CME buying can not be said to have fueled today’s rally directly.
Regarding institutions, however, Fidelity Digital was recently passed the so-called Lightning Network “Torch” before handing it off. Fidelity, with over $7 trillion worth of assets, are planning to launch a Bitcoin custody service in March, providing yet more institutional exposure to Bitcoin trading.
