Bitcoin Price Gear Towards $19,000, Surges by $1,000 in a Single Day

Google, the world’s most widely utilized search engine, has revealed that bitcoin has been the second most popular keyword on its platform throughout 2017.

As the demand for bitcoin from both casual investors and retail traders increased over the past 12 months, the popularity of bitcoin on search engines and social media platforms surged proportionally.

While the recent surge in the price of bitcoin can be attributed to a variety of factors, the two driving factors of the rise in bitcoin price have likely been the global finance market’s anticipation of CME’s scheduled listing of bitcoin futures on December 18 and the strong performance of alternative cryptocurrencies within the past week.

Given that strong rallies of cryptocurrencies almost always follow with bear cycles, traders are likely expecting the price of other cryptocurrencies in the market such as Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and Litecoin to decline in the short-term, considering their recent meteoric rise in values.

As Litecoin creator Charlie Lee explained, “Every crypto bull run I’ve seen has been followed by a bear cycle. The market needs time to consolidate. That’s just my experience from 7 years of watching this space. How low and how long it will be is TBD. People need to be aware of this possibility and invest responsibly.”

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), the global finance industry’s largest options exchange market, has had a successful debut with its listing of bitcoin futures on December 14. As such, the global finance market is highly anticipating the launch of CME’s bitcoin futures exchange merely two days from today.

At the time of reporting, bitcoin is being traded on CBOE with a high premium of $500, at nearly $19,000.

Impact of CME’s Bitcoin Futures Listing

Last month, major hedge funds and investment firms including the $100 billion Man Group have officially announced their plans to invest in bitcoin and commit to the cryptocurrency market upon the completion of CME’s bitcoin futures listing.

Since large-scale hedge funds have minimum investment values and thresholds at hundreds of millions of dollars, the entrance of leading investment firms by the year’s end would lead to tens of billions in institutional money into the bitcoin market.

Michael Novogratz, a billionaire investor and former Fortress executive, stated that the massive inflow of capital into the cryptocurrency market and exchanges globally will further drive the price of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in the short-term.

“This week the buying seemed indiscriminate. With this much money piling onto the exchanges globally, the market is heading higher,” said Novogratz.

Peter Brandt, a life-long trader and a highly regarded bitcoin analyst, expressed his optimism towards the launch of CME’s bitcoin futures contracts on Sunday. He wrote:

“CME bitcoin futures contract to be launched Sunday. Initial margin per contract will be north of $45,000.”