Bitcoin trading volume is up over 17% at $47 billion compared to $40 billion on Sunday. Currently priced at $6,274, the price of BTC is also up 5% in the past 24 hours.
The rise is prompting industry leaders to speculate that Bitcoin, in a bid to emerge as an uncorrelated asset, is steadily separating itself from the market mayhem on Wall Street, where the Dow continues to slide despite emergency intervention by the Federal Reserve.
Catherine Coley, chief executive officer of Binance.US, confirms crypto trading volume is on the rise.
“Despite the market downturn, Binance.US is seeing unprecedented trading volumes, with especially active trading in Bitcoin. We are also seeing heightened interest in stablecoins as investors recognize the importance of hedging volatility during highly uncertain times.”
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Amidst a full backdrop of emergency measures to rescue traditional markets — tripping circuit breakers to halt extremely volatile trading, pumping cash, devising stimulus packages and implementing unlimited asset purchases by central banks to support the economy, the cryptocurrency markets are functioning without intervention.
Brian Norton, chief operating officer of MEW (MyEtherWallet), says the low price of Ether, which is currently trading around $130, down from its 90-day high of $287, has triggered high trading volume.
“There are more people buying ETH on MEW now than ever before. We have never seen these numbers, not even during the big crash in Winter 2018. Any dip in prices will cause a shift in transactions, but this one is record-breaking in terms of taking one action: Buy cheap ETH.”
Despite crypto’s ability to decouple from the traditional markets, Bitcoin bull Mike Novogratz, CEO of crypto merchant bank Galaxy Digital, warns that the king coin’s hallmark rollercoaster price action is par for the course as a disruptive force.
“Bitcoin will continue to be volatile over the next few months but the macro backdrop is why it was created. This will be and needs to be BTC’s year.”
Industry leaders are also pushing back on the narrative of a big Bitcoin sell-off by institutional investors.
Says Diogo Monica, president and co-founder of digital asset custodian Anchorage,
“While recent reports suggested an institutional sell-off, this hasn’t been the case for our clients. Whether VC, hedge fund, endowment, or family office, smart money continues to recognize digital assets as a hedge on traditional markets, but security and transaction speeds are especially top of mind, given the economic downturn and day-to-day volatility.”
Adds Coley,
“Bitcoin’s recent jump while the rest of the market tumbles proves that unlike traditional companies, Bitcoin can and will survive without bailouts. Bitcoin has always been built on the idea of a need to send and receive value in a safe and secure way, and that’s not going anywhere.”
Featured Image: Shutterstock/Olga Enger
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