Bitcoin – $18,000! Results of the week

On the night of November 18, Bitcoin continued to grow, reaching a new record this year of $18,483. At the same time, the capitalization of the first cryptocurrency reached a historical maximum of $341.95 billion.

Reports of successful development of coronavirus vaccines have had an interesting effect on investor preferences: analysts from Deutsche Bank report more demand for bitcoin than for gold. Over the week, bitcoin rose in price by 13.4%, and the precious metal, popular for investment, fell in price by 3.6%.

In total, since the third halving, the price of the main cryptocurrency has doubled - according to Chainalysis analysts, this is due to the huge appetites of institutional investors.

95% of all Bitcoin supply belongs to 2% of addresses (Flipside Crypto study). The current rally is accompanied by an increase in the concentration of coins in the accounts of large holders. Among large BTC holders, 92.4% belong to whales and 7% belong to cryptocurrency exchanges. Therefore, the whales still have a significant impact on the market: one transaction can lower or raise the price, and retail investors cannot do anything about such price fluctuations. 51% of Bitcoin addresses contain less than 0.01 BTC at the time of writing (BitInfoCharts).

Mining

Over the course of the month, the demand for mining devices in the Russian Federation has been actively growing. Analysts of "Avito" have established an increase in the number of these requests by 45%, and the number of advertisements for the sale of equipment, respectively, is declining.

On November 19, the daily income of miners amounted to $21.19 million and this is a record value for the year. Previously, this level of income was observed only before the halving.

Ethereum 2.0

Dubai investors have invested $10 million in the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract. Investment firm IBC Group purchased 21,984 ETH, enough to run 687 nodes. CEO Khurram Shroff commented on the decision:

"The second iteration introduces a more environmentally friendly and efficient version that solves the problem of low sustainability due to the high energy consumption of the Proof-of-Work model."

To date, the balance of the deposit contract has reached 19% of the coins needed to launch Ethereum 2.0.

Adoption

• Consulting company deVere Group surveyed 700 millionaires about their desire to invest in cryptocurrencies. It turned out that 511 of them have either already bought some coins or are planning to invest in the next two years. Every year, the number of investors wishing to replenish their portfolio with cryptocurrencies is gradually growing. The main reason for this trend is “hedge against long-term inflationary fears” and the adoption of bitcoin by companies like PayPal.
• Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams conducted a poll among her Twitter followers about whether she should go long in bitcoin. 50.7% of those who voted supported this idea, while 49.3% answered "no". In total, 650,369 users took part in the voting. The post was commented on by well-known representatives of the crypto industry, as well as Elon Musk did not pass by. The day after the poll, Arya Stark's Maisie Williams did buy "some bitcoins."
• Also, American rapper Logic announced the purchase of $6 million in bitcoins, and Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Jason Williams sold his Chevrolet Suburban car for 0.4 BTC.
• The director of Citibank, one of the largest banks in the world, Tom Fitzpatrick called bitcoin the digital gold of the 21st century. It is thanks to the recognition of bitcoin in this status that it will be able to reach $318,315 by the end of 2021. Fitzpatrick recalled that gold has risen in leaps and bounds over the past 50 years, as did bitcoin from 2011 to 2013. This forecast is also explained by the situation with the pandemic, when the authorities made it clear that they would not stop printing money until basic indicators were restored. The expert also allows gold to rise to $4,000-$8,000, given the inevitable crisis (at the time of writing, the quotes were at $18,600). Rick Reader, CEO of BlackRock investment company, is sure that bitcoin is much more functional than a metal ingot and can eventually replace gold.
• Cynthia Lummis, the first female senator from Wyoming and a supporter of cryptocurrencies, has vowed to take the discussion of bitcoin to the national level. Cynthia stated in an interview with ABC News that bitcoin is a good store of value because  it is not subject to inflation, unlike the dollar.

«21 million bitcoins will be mined and that’s it, this is a limited issue. So I'm sure it will become an important player as a store of value for a long time to come».

• The American company DAiM has launched a new pension savings plan with a 10% stake in bitcoin.
• Well-known media Financial Times and Fox Business criticized bitcoin because, in their opinion, it does not justify the status of a means of preserving value. The article "The Elusive promise of Bitcoin" describes that the current price of bitcoin is what people are willing to spend on a coin, but not its fundamental value. The second article has the title "Bitcoin is not comparable to gold in a world gripped by coronavirus", its authors referred to well-known critics of bitcoin.
• The head of the SEC, Jay Clayton, considers the “inefficiency” of the current payment systems to be the reason for the growth of bitcoin. He stressed that bitcoin cannot be a security, it is only a means of accumulation and settlement. After the first cryptocurrency becomes more mature, more serious regulation regarding its payment functions will begin from the US Internal Revenue Service and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Regulation

• The Netherlands is the only EU country that requires cryptocurrency exchanges to take screenshots of users' wallets. The Bitonic platform reported that it is now forced to track the movement of funds due to the strict requirements of the regulator. In order not to be refused in registering a company, the purposes of buying bitcoins are now requested and from which wallet they will do it. Each withdrawal of funds must be supported by a screenshot of the wallet.
• FATF: Cryptocurrency companies are just starting to adapt to regulatory requirements, and they have a long way to go before full compliance. According to the anti-money laundering organization, crypto business is still far from meeting all the requirements. Regulators are especially worried about anonymous coins, mixers and companies that frequently change jurisdictions, and during the pandemic, cryptocurrencies are even more often used for illegal purposes.

“Without the adoption of a relevant law on the regulation of the cryptocurrency market, it will not be possible to implement the FATF recommendations, and as a result, Ukraine is in danger of being included in the sanctions lists,” Maxim Demyanyuk, Ministry of Digital Transformation.

At the moment, Ukraine does not comply with all the FATF recommendations and risks being blacklisted by the organization. This will directly affect banking and international trade, and any payments to the country's banks will be considered suspicious. Ukraine was blacklisted by the FATF from 2002 to 2004 and from 2010 to 2011.

Someone thinks that the use of cryptocurrencies in the financing of terrorism is a myth, but what do you think?