With Bitcoin romping to new all-time highs of $23,770 without stopping for breath—and the surge winning coverage in national news outlets that wouldn’t normally touch crypto with a 10-foot pole—curious investors are now examining digital assets for the first time.
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Markets Report: Ethereum hits 2.5-year high, breaking $600 as CME announces 2021 futures launch
The largest altcoin hits $620 on the back of its own futures commitment on the day that Bitcoin reaches $20,800
As Bitcoin hits all-time highs and claims $20,000 this week, news of a different kind saw bulls double down on largest altcoin Ethereum. In a press release on December 16, CME Group, one of the first companies to launch Bitcoin futures trading in 2017, confirmed that ether futures would launch in February next year.
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Finally, Ethereum 2.0 launches
The preliminary stage of Ethereum’s long-delayed proof-of-stake blockchain has gone live, with the first block mined
Ethereum has dominated DApps for years, but the old proof-of-work Ethereum blockchain suffers from significant scalability limitations that, paired with the ongoing decentralized finance craze, resulted in slow transaction processing and high—and sometimes ludicrous—fees for the users of the network. This has pushed more than a few smart contract developers to choose competing blockchains, sidechains, or second-layer scalability solutions.
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Markets Report: Bitcoin sees $3,000 daily losses in test for FOMO investors
Lows of $16,300 appear with Bitcoin then recovering to around $17,000 support, but higher levels must return for a bullish continuation
Bitcoin saw a drop which only rivals its March crash on November 26 as selling pressure resulted in a landslide to near $16,000. Data from price trackers including CoinMarketCap and TradingView showed BTC/USD falling dramatically in Thursday trading, losing $17,000 support and bottoming out only near $16,300.
