Newsflash: Bitcoin Leaps Over $200 to Surpass $4,100 for the First Time in Two Weeks

Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, has recently seen its price jump well over $200 in about 15 minutes to cross the $4,100 mark, something it hadn’t done since December 24, a day in which it saw its price dip from the $4,300 mark.

According to CryptoCompare data BTC is currently trading at $4,120 after seeing a $200 leap in a short amount of time, that helped it surge from the $3,880 mark in which it started the day. The leap has added billions to its market cap, as it’s currently up over 6.5% in the last 24-hour period.

What’s behind the flagship cryptocurrency’s sudden rise is, at press time, unclear. On social media various users have only so far started celebrating the move, and most suspect a whale has decided to stock up on BTC.

The surge comes shortly after legendary investor Gary Shilling revealed he’s staying away from BTC over its lack of “transparency,” and after it was revealed that nearly 80% of cryptocurrency investors are still net-invested in the flagship cryptocurrency.

It also notably comes during an ad campaign made by the Gemini Trust Company, a popular cryptocurrency exchange, that calls for cryptocurrency regulations and argues there needs to be a “bridge” between the traditional financial system and the cryptocurrency space. Notably Weiss Ratings has recently noted that bitcoin will “rise up and head for new all-time highs” as well.

Most top altcoins have seemingly followed BTC’s lead and are also on the move. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 100 Index, a market cap-weighted index that tracks the top 100 cryptos, is currently up by over 5% in the last 24-hour period.

It may, however, be too early to celebrate. Some analysts on social media have already noted that BTC’s low liquidity may have helped the move be so dramatic, and at press time the price appears to be receding.

Speaking to CryptoGlobe this week Mati Greenspan, a senior market analyst at eToro, noted that if we do go back down again, the $3,000 mark represents a “critical support.” On Twitter, he noted that if BTC keeps moving up, it’ll face resistance at $5,000.

Nice jump!

Good to see Bitcoin above 4k again. The big test is 5k though. pic.twitter.com/nuVEAzBEM7

— Mati Greenspan (@MatiGreenspan) January 6, 2019

When asked whether he believes we’ll be moving up to test the $5,000 mark in the near future or whether the cryptocurrency is going to drop to $3,000 again, he noted that “we’ll see.” As to whether the pump was aided by low liquidity, he stated:

Bitcoin often spikes on low liquidity. What looks significant here is that the jump took us above the psychological barrier of $4,000, which Bitcoin has been testing since Christmas.

This week, litecoin (LTC) has also seen considerable gains. As covered, the cryptocurrency has been rising after hitting the 100 LTC node count on the Lightning Network (LN). At press time, it’s trading at $40 after rising 12% in the last 24-hour period.

This article has been updated to add Mati Greenspan’s comments.