Over the past 48 hours, after demonstrating a highly volatile week, the cryptocurrency market has remained stable in the $350 billion region, as major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have not recorded major gains or losses.
Stability
Throughout February and March, every cryptocurrency in the global market has experienced extreme upswings and price drops, going up and down 20 to 30 percent within a 24-hour period. Bitcoin for instance, has dropped from $14,000 to $6,000, increased to $11,600, dropped to $7,000, and recovered to $9,000.
Subsequent to this period of intense volatility, the cryptocurrency market has found some stability, given that the market has not made any major movement for two days straight. Some tokens like ICON (ICX) and Storm have surged by over 40 percent due to exchange listings, but other than the two cryptocurrencies, most digital currencies have sustained their price from March 20.
Investors have also started to express some optimism and enthusiasm towards the market after the initial recovery from $6,000. Experts in the tech and finance sectors including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, billionaire investors Tim Draper and Alan Howard shared a similar sentiment in saying that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin could become the global reserve currency.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who also operates payments app Square, stated:
“The world ultimately will have a single currency, the internet will have a single currency. I personally believe that it will be bitcoin.”
Howard, who invested in bitcoin last year, revealed that he will increase his holdings in cryptocurrencies in 2018, because he strongly believes the market will experience a full recovery throughout this year.
“Hedge fund billionaire Alan Howard made sizable personal investments in cryptocurrencies last year and plans to put more of his own money into digital assets and the blockchain technology behind them, according to people with knowledge of the matter,” a Bloomberg report read.
ICON
ICON, also known as the Ethereum of South Korea, has recorded a 60 percent gain on March 21, and another 40 percent surge in price on March 22.
Yesterday, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb listed ICON, supporting its airdrop campaign. Almost immediately after the listing of ICON on Bithumb, the price of ICX surged by over 60 percent, as massive volumes from the local market were allocated to the ICON exchange market.
Earlier today, the second biggest cryptocurrency trading platform in South Korea, Upbit, listed ICX. As a cryptocurrency-only exchange in the local market, Upbit is popular amongst professional cryptocurrency traders and casual investors that are looking to invest in cryptocurrencies that are not listed on cryptocurrency-to-fiat exchanges like Bithumb and Korbit.
Overall, the cryptocurrency market is in a better position than it was earlier this month, in terms of valuation, volume, demand, and media coverage. In regions like Japan and South Korea, premiums have re-emerged, with South Korea demonstrating a 4.6 percent premium for bitcoin.