Breakingviews
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LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - Three years ago, this column suggested that bitcoin, whose price soared 15-fold during 2017, faced a total wipeout. The cryptocurrency wasn’t money, but instead resembled the gold prospector’s fabled sardine tin: “good for trading but not for eating.” It was a timely call: over the following months, bitcoin shed more than two-thirds of its value. But now the crypto is back from the dead and trading at around twice its peak. Was my earlier bitcoin judgement wrong?
A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin is seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken January 8, 2021.
Cryptocurrency markets have staged a smart recovery with the total global market capitalization jumping 10.17% in 24 hours leading to press time, as per CoinMarketCap data.
What Happened: Bitcoin (BTC) was up 10.01% at press time at $37,330.57 while Ethereum (ETH) rallied 5.48% higher at $1,105.77.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTC:GBTC) closed 3.67% higher at $40.35 on Wednesday. On the same day,
Grayscale Ethereum Trust (OTC:ETHE) closed 1.75% higher at $13.40.
Grayscale is making moves to dissolve its XRP Trust after having announced the liquidation of XRP positions from its
Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (OTC:GDLC).
The decision comes in the wake of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing a lawsuit against XRP linked company Ripple Labs, as per a statement. XRP traded 0.99% higher at $0.29 at press time.