Scream if you want to go faster. The crypto markets have been a rollercoaster ride this week — with Bitcoin’s price falling by more than $10,000 to lows of $30,549.60 on Monday.
Analysts maintained that the correction was “healthy and necessary,” with the sharp sell-offs prompting the total crypto market cap to fall by more than $200 billion.
ExoAlpha CIO David Lifchitz said the crash “would purge the excessive growth of the past 10 days, allowing Bitcoin to build a new base toward $50,000 and above.”
And indeed, Bitcoin refused to die. Just three days after the sudden downturn, BTC reached $40,000 on Coinbase once again, amid fresh evidence of new large buys on exchanges. Tyler Winklevoss had a clear message: “Don’t listen to the noise, stay focused.”
Alas, it seems like $40,000 is now shaping up to be a tough nut to crack. Despite Joe Biden unveiling an eye-watering stimulus package worth $1.9 trillion, there was not a surge to be seen in Bitcoin’s price. Indeed, BTC actually fell under $35,000 at one point.
eToro warns users it is running out of crypto to trade due to unprecedented demand
An email sent out by eToro suggests that the exchange is struggling to keep up with users who are clamoring to snap up Bitcoin.
In a message to customers, it warned that “unprecedented demand for crypto coupled with limited liquidity” meant limits on crypto buy orders may need to be enforced over the weekend.
It seems the company has been a victim of its own success. The email came a day after eToro marketing manager Brad Michelson revealed that 380,000 users had opened accounts in the first 11 days of January — with crypto trading volumes running 25 times higher than they were last year.
Quantum Economics founder Mati Greenspan — formerly a market analyst for eToro — told Cointelegraph that the warning notice was “a symptom of a potential upcoming liquidity crunch” and advised users against trying to move funds off the platform.
An eToro spokesperson told Cointelegraph: “Our experience of the 2017 crypto rally means that we understand the possible consequences of extreme volatility in crypto markets. We want to ensure that our clients fully understand the possible risks.”
DOT flip: Polkadot overtakes XRP to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency
There have been some big movers as the crypto market rally resumes and Polkadot’s DOT token is among them.
DOT has flipped Ripple’s XRP in terms of market capitalization following a massive gain of 29% over the past 24 hours. This makes it the new fourth-largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of $15.6 billion at the time of writing. Over the past week, DOT has surged by an impressive 83.26%.
Polkadot is a fully interoperable platform that allows other blockchains to connect to the network, and it has been described as an “Ethereum killer” because of how it can process thousands of transactions per second.
The most recent update, which may be driving momentum, was the launch of its Rococo parachain testnet, which went live in late December.
Other factors driving momentum include the issues with DeFi on Ethereum as demand for scaling intensifies.
ECB president Lagarde renews calls for global regulation of Bitcoin
The president of the European Central Bank has doubled down on calls for Bitcoin to be regulated globally.
Speaking at the Reuters Next conference, Christine Lagarde said: “[Bitcoin] is a highly speculative asset, which has conducted some funny business and some interesting and totally reprehensible money laundering activity.”
During the interview, Lagarde did not reportedly refer to any specific instances of money laundering involving Bitcoin but alluded to her awareness of criminal investigations into illegal activities connected with its use.
She told reporters: “There has to be regulation. This has to be applied and agreed upon […] at a global level because if there is an escape that escape will be used.”
Winners and Lossers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin is at $37,271.25, Ether at $1,255.16 and XRP at $0.28. The total market cap is at $1,038,320,969,138.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are HedgeTrade, Voyager Token and IOST. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Bitcoin SV, EOS and Verge.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.