Bitcoin Price Soars Amid Record $1.2 Billion Trading Volume

Bitcoin price achieved their biggest intraday rise since December 2017 April 12 after markets suddenly climbed over $1200 in just two hours.

Bitcoin price: $1200 In 2 Hours

In a move which startled traders used to 2018’s sideways price movements, BTC/USD passed $8000 twice before settling around $7700 at press time. Before the change, Bitcoin traded around $6800 across major exchanges.

As commentators scrabble to find a motive for the sudden volatility, an narrative that big money is manipulating Bitcoin markets continues to hold traction. What’s more, more bitcoin changed hands during this one hour than at anytime in Bitcoin’s history with $1.2 billion trading volume. 

Quarterly futures contracts on OKEx totalled 1,313,000 before the rise, worth around $131 million at the time in what one Twitter trader called the “largest ask” he had seen.

At the same time, the knock-on effect of billionaire George Soros announcing he would enter the cryptocurrency trading arena is still expected to move markets.

Despite the head of macro investing at New York-based Soros Fund Management getting permission to trade, Bloomberg reported April 6, it remains unclear when the first moves will occur.

This week, Soros was joined by the Rockefeller empire, which announced a partnership with incubator CoinFund to invest in a wide range of Blockchain startups in the long term.

Kicking Out The Bears By Sunday

Dealing with the immediate aftermath of Thursday’s price action meanwhile, analysts concluded further upside was needed in order to break through the more general downtrend which has characterized Bitcoin in recent months.

A decisive move, one says, could nonetheless come before the start of next week.

Very encouraging price action on #bitcoin, but we still need to break through the downtrend. This sharp rise (best day for btc in almost 2 months) suggests there's a good chance we break through in the next few days. pic.twitter.com/mOfwEgedvf

— Jack (@jackfru1t) April 12, 2018

Meanwhile, a predictable outcome for altcoin assets saw many gain significantly in copy-cat moves from Bitcoin.

Ether (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Monero (XMR) all added around 10%, while others such as Litecoin (LTC) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) averaged closer to 7.5%.

What do you think about Bitcoin’s sudden price spike? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter

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