Bitcoin was one of the best-performing assets in 2019. The currency rose by more than 85%. This was higher than the 30% gain by the S&P 500. It was also higher than gains in gold and other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Litecoin. Bitcoin started 2019 from a point of weakness after its price dropped by more than 80% in the previous year.
Bitcoin started 2020 on a high note after rising by 30 basis points on the first day of the year. The outlook for the year remains uncertain. This is because the currency has declined significantly since peaking at almost $14,000 in 2019. The currency is 44% off its 2019 highs. Nonetheless, there is a ray of hope. The market is anticipating how the currency will perform ahead of the halving event that will happen in June this year. Halving happens when the size of the block reward is reduced by half. This leads to lower supply. Historically, currencies like BTC and LTC have risen ahead of halving. In addition, reports by Blockchain and Coin Dance confirmed that BTC’s hash rate started the year at an all-time high.
In January, the market will continue paying attention to Ripple. Ripple, the company that owns cryptocurrency XRP, will be watched after it raised a massive $200 million round in 2020. The round was led by Tetragon, SBI Holdings, and Route 66 Ventures. This round valued the company at more than $10 billion. The traded XRP currency is valued at more than $8.2 billion and is the third most-valuable crypto after Bitcoin and Ethereum. The company sold more than 66 million XRP tokens in the third quarter.
Ethereum will also be in focus this month. The second-most valuable cryptocurrency has been a laggard in the past year, when its price declined by more than 8%. The currency will be in focus as it completed its second hard fork in less than 30 days. This happened after the mining of the 9,200,000 block in what is being called the Muir Glacier upgrade. This upgrade, which was proposed by EthHub’s Eric Conner, delays the so-called ‘difficulty bomb by 4 million blocks. This is expected to increase the block time slowly with the goal of pushing the network towards a proof-of-stake situation. Enthusiasts will be watching how this develop.
Bithumb, one of the biggest exchanges in the world, will be in the spotlight this month. This is after it emerged that South Korea’s National Tax service was planning to withhold tax worth more than $70 million from the company. Bithumb is the biggest crypto exchange in the country. This tax will be withheld mostly from foreign customers. This will be the first time the company has imposed tax on gains from cryptocurrencies.
Enthusiasts will also be paying attention to a number of events that are scheduled to take place in January. In Las Vegas, the Digital Money Forum will take place on January 7 to 10th. The forum is expected to welcome more than 1000 delegates from the United States and around the world.
In Washington, the Elite AI and Blockchain summit will take place on January 14 and 15.
The North American Bitcoin Conference will happen in Miami on January 15 to 17. Key speakers will be Bill Barhydt, the founder of Abra and Marco Santori, the president of Blockchain.com. The Crypto Finance Conference will happen in Switzerland, and will be headline by the Winklevoss brothers.
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