The Bitcoin network recently set a new historic mining hashrate record as the market gets ready for 2024’s halving event.
The Bitcoin hashrate hit a record high on October 28, 2023, hitting 543 EH/s at 8:00 am GMT. This rate beat the 525 EH/s recorded on October 7 and October 10. Interestingly, the current high puts the Bitcoin ecosystem in perspective, mostly as the market expects the halving event anticipated in April 2024.
Bitcoin’s hashrate is a number meant to estimate hashes Bitcoin miners generate as they solve computational problems enabling them to create blocks. The hashrate is generally a measure of the difficulty needed to produce a single block. Whenever the hashrate is high, the network is highly secure and less likely to get compromised by hackers and criminals seeking to alter transaction data or try double-spending.
A high hashrate normally has a positive effect on Bitcoin’s price. An increase in Bitcoin’s hashrate translates to an improvement in the network’s security, which might increase investor confidence and then spur the demand for the cryptocurrency. This set of events then helps push the prices higher.
Based on data published by CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin is trading above $34,000 after gaining 12% in the past week. In the past month, the flagship crypto has gained almost 28% and more than 100% year to date (YTD).
Projections Around Bitcoin’s Bullish Price And Hashrate Record Trajectory
As the market expects the halving amid Bitcoin’s price movements, positive forecasts have come in from many places. For example, financial analyst CryptoCon projected that Bitcoin will reach $45,000 in November. In a thread posted on Twitter, CryptoCon says there is a lot of room for a spike despite many other expectations that point to a retracement in the near term.
There are multiple bullish predictions, many forecasted on the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. Although the US SEC has yet to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, many analysts think it is just a matter of time.
Anthony Scaramucci, SkyBridge Capital Founder and Managing Partner, said recently the market price of Bitcoin could multiply 11 times upon approval. Scaramucci stated:
“Think of the magnitude of that. If there’s a hundred billion dollars that flows into Bitcoin, the guys at Fidelity think that could have an 11 times factor in terms of valuation, so you could see Bitcoin go from a $600 billion asset to a $6 trillion asset.”
Another optimistic projection came from a popular investor and entrepreneur called Lark Davis. In a September 2023 post on X, the analyst cited estimates that propose a Bitcoin ETF would attract nearly $30 billion. He added that the money would buy “about half of all coins on exchanges at current prices”.
To support his point, Lark Davis added an image that shows a chart of gold’s trajectory since the first gold ETF launched in the United States. This chart showed over 260% increase since the approval in 2004, with the analyst wondering whether history might repeat itself.
Related:Bitcoin’s Potential: Timing Your Entry for Maximum Profits!
40 Million Bitcoin Addresses In Profit – A New Record
80% of Bitcoin addresses are ‘in the black’ at $34,000, while BTC price still trades 50% below its all-time high.
Currently, Bitcoin has more wallet addresses in profit than ever before despite being far from its all-time highs. The latest data from Glassnode shows a record number of addresses in the profit zone. The biggest crypto might be nearing 18-month highs, but the recent gains were adequate to spark massive changes in investor profitability.
Based on Glassnode data, the number of addresses in profit on October 30 was 39.1 million. This is the highest number that has ever been recorded for Bitcoin, and it beats the previous peak of 38.1 million that was seen in November 2021.
At that time, Bitcoin traded at all-time highs, and hence 100% of addresses in existence with a non-zero balance were in profit. While the current spot price remains 50% lower than the all-time highs, total non-zero addresses now have reached 48.3 million.
In percentages, in-profit addresses are yet to match their performance in absolute numbers, but they are at 18-month highs of 81.1%. That tally has surged from 60% to 80% in the past two months, according to Glassnode.
On the contrary, addresses at a loss now stand at around 9 million. At their peak in December 2022, after the FTX meltdown, the total was more than 20 million.
Long-Term Holders Experience ‘Minimal’ Profit-Taking
In the past week, Bitcoin’s price action passed several resistance levels as it returned long-term (LTH) and short-term (STH) holders to profit.
That movement, in turn, sparked profit-taking at the highly speculative end of the holder spectrum – mostly as the market spiked above $34,000.
One research and data analyst at crypto insights firm CryptoSlate, James Van Straten, noted the difference between the two investment groups. He argued on Oct. 29:
“Bitcoin has shown remarkable strength above $34k for the past five days while witnessing one of the strongest profit-takings in the past two years, from STHs.”
“LTHs have barely budged, the sixth largest profit-taking this year, but minimal in the grand scheme of things.”
Market charts tracked inflows to exchanges from LTHs and in-profit STH entities.
