Litecoin (LTC) hit $70 for the first time since September 2019 this weekend, fuelling speculation it will induce a Bitcoin (BTC) bull run. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and Coin360 showed LTC/USD passing the notable $70 barrier on Feb. 1, going on to claim local highs of $71.50. LTC seals 65% monthly returns As with many major altcoins, the achievement caps a highly successful month for Litecoin, which on Jan. 1 traded at just $43. Litecoin price 1-month chart. Source: Coin360 However, the 65% jump caught traders’ attention for one reason in particular. As popular Twitter personality Loma noted on Saturday, …

Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko believes that Bitcoin should be a part of every investment portfolio. The performance analysis of the past five years shows that even portfolios that only held 1% of their total investments in Bitcoin managed to outperform their competitors. Bitcoin offers a ten-to-one downside capture, which makes it one of the most asymmetric assets that Yusko has ever seen. The growing popularity of crypto derivatives indicates institutional players are gradually entering the space. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange group Managing Director and Global Head of Equity Index Alternative Investment Products, Tim McCourt, said: “CME Bitcoin futures …

On Jan. 30 Litecoin (LTC) lit up the charts in both it’s USD and Bitcoin (BTC) pars by rallying more than 20% to secure a spot as the highest daily gainer amongst the top-10 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. Crypto market daily price chart. Source: Coin360 Investors will recall that in 2019, Litecoin front-ran the Ether (ETH) and Bitcoin rally by pumping more than 350% from January to June. Thus, the altcoin’s most recent price action is sure to stir up some strong feelings amongst traders who may interpret the altcoin’s trend reversal as the beginnings of a wider crypto-market …

Japanese consulting firm Nomura Research Institute, which is an affiliate of financial services giant Nomura Holdings, has launched a tradable cryptocurrency index in partnership with cryptocurrency investment solution provider Intelligence Unit. The index, which is meant for financial institutions, will track a basket of cryptocurrencies and can be traded in US dollars and yen. Though several financial companies have launched services for institutional investors, the inflow of money into the crypto space has been slow. Bitcoin options trading on Intercontinental Exchange’s digital asset platform Bakkt has been lackluster with nil volume reported for the past few days. Daily cryptocurrency market …

Investors are rushing into various safe haven assets as the coronavirus death toll in China rises and the virus spreads in various Asian countries, the US, parts of Europe and Australia. Usually, the initial reaction to any crisis is to dump all asset classes but gradually, the investors start to differentiate between asset classes as they analyze the effect the crisis can have on them. After the initial sell-off in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies due to the coronavirus scare, the crypto markets have stabilized and are rising once again. The total market capitalization of the crypto universe has risen from …

Litecoin (LTC) founder Charlie Lee proposed mining pool donations as a new funding method for cryptocurrency development. “I think a better way to fund development is mining pools voluntarily donate a portion of the block reward,” Lee said in a tweet on Jan. 24, adding: “How about Litecoin pools donate 1% (0.125 LTC) of block rewards to the @LTCFoundation? If every miner/pool does this, it amounts to about $1.5MM donation per year!” With 1% donated on a consistent basis, Lee’s suggested solution would provide enough funding for Litecoin permanently going forward, Lee confirmed to Cointelegraph. He explained: “At current LTC …

The International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath said in a panel discussion at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that Facebook’s Libra was a major trigger that made people reconsider the status of the dollar as the reserve currency of the world. Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, who was also a part of the panel, said that “the Libra episode is just evoking a future digital currency.” In order to help policymakers understand the central bank digital currency (CBDC) better, the WEF in collaboration with some of the world's major central banks and experts from over 40 …

The start of 2020 has seen considerable gains in the cryptocurrency market as a whole. Recently, Bitcoin (BTC) price reached a 2-month record high crossing above the $9,000 mark as well as other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin (LTC) reaching $62.80 which is the highest price seen since mid-November 2018. Cryptocurrency market weekly overview. Source: Coin360 Cryptocurrencies’ volatile behavior is one of the main concerns raised by researchers and it complicates the argument that Bitcoin should be classified as a traditional investment asset and that it is a reliable store of value. Amid those discussions, Bitcoin has been closely compared to …

Recently Hiromi Yamaoka, the former head of payments and settlements at the Bank of Japan, said that Facebook’s Libra has forced central banks to research and consider issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Currently China is leading the race in developing a CBDC but it appears that other nations are now attempting to play catch up. In a press release, the Bank of England said that the central banks of Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, Sweden and Switzerland have joined hands with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) to form a working group tasked with researching CBDCs. …

The total market capitalization of the crypto space rallied from about $184 billion on Jan. 3 to a high of $250 billion on Jan. 19. That is a 35% gain within a short span of time. Usually, fast-paced rallies do not last long, hence, for the long-term health of the markets, it is better to have rallies with intermittent corrections. Bitcoin has been following the Stock-to-Flow model fairly accurately. The model’s creator, an analyst known as PlanB, believes that the price of Bitcoin is likely to average around $8,200 until the halving event in May of this year. Thereafter, the …

The total crypto market capitalization has risen from about $190.5 billion at the start of the year to over $243 billion. That is a rise of about 27.55% within 17 days. This shows that the bulls are back in action. Another interesting thing to note is that the rally is led by altcoins, which are outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) by a huge margin. This shows that the current rally is more broad-based, announcing the arrival of altseason. Digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments reported that $225.5 million in investments flowed into its products in Q4 2019. That took the total investment …

The crypto space is making a comeback and the rally is being led by altcoins. While several altcoins might participate in the initial rally, we believe that the market will start differentiating between each cryptocurrency based on its fundamentals. Hence, traders should avoid buying the non-performers expecting a repeat of the previous bull market when every altcoin staged a parabolic rally. When compared against altcoins, Bitcoin (BTC) has been an underperformer over the past few days. Its dominance rate, which had risen above 69% on Jan. 8, dipped below 66% on Jan 15. On Jan. 14 Bitwise Asset Management withdrew …