Bitcoin Defies Its Doubters In 2023

London: 12 December 2023 (TraderMade): Bitcoin is bouncing back from depressed prices, low trading volumes, and challenging economic conditions. It found the second wind in October, after the summer slump.

Bitcoin, the king of cryptocurrencies, has leaped 164% since 1 January and is trading above $40,000. It is outpacing traditional assets, including gold, which has increased by 10%, and the S&P 500 (SPX), which gained 20%.

Overall, it has gained its share to above 50% starting from 38%. Moreover, the Crypto market cap increased to $1.7 trillion from $871 billion towards the end of 2022, where the Ether price also jumped by 95%.

Most Bitcoin gains came later in the year due to the potential US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Additionally, hopes of a more accessible monetary policy renewed investors' energies.

Trading volumes also have picked up. The combined spot and derivative trading volume on centralized exchanges hit $3.61 trillion in November, up from about $2.9 trillion in January.

Meanwhile, stablecoin cryptocurrencies, whose value is pegged to tangible world assets like dollars, have shown good growth. Tether, the largest stablecoin, has seen its market cap soar to an all-time high of over $90 Billion.

Most of Bitcoin's 55% run in the 4th quarter was attributed to the bet that spot Bitcoin ETF would get US approval.