Bitcoin Remains Stuck At $19,000 as Mining Difficulty Prints Record High
Bitcoin (BTC)’s woes seem to not be lifting anytime soon as the benchmark cryptocurrency remains stuck in a vacillating pattern around the $19,000 support. At press time, the cryptocurrency trades at $19,100, down by 54% year-to-date (YTD).
Despite this, some diehard Bitcoin proponents remain convinced that a meteoric bullish rally is lurking around the corner for BTC and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. One such proponent is Ark Investment Management analyst Yassine Elmandjra, who recently reaffirmed his $1 million Bitcoin price prediction.
Yassine Elmandjra’s Million Dollar Prediction
According to Ark Investment Management founder Cathie Wood, the heart-wrenching reversal recorded in the crypto market over the months is nothing to be worried about. Wood believes that the hawkish monetary policy stance adopted by the US Federal Reserve was the main catalyst driving investors to sell their holdings through 2022.
That said, Elmandjra told Bloomberg in a recent interview that there remains a decent opportunity for Bitcoin, irrespective of the poor performance recorded of late. The analysts argue that the $1 million price tag prediction remains in play, noting that the crypto market will most likely recover at the end of the Fed’s monetary tightening cycle, and will record another bull run in the next few years.
Elmandjra explains that the market could see a $28 trillion opportunity “if we stack every use case on top of another,” which would result in BTC being priced at $1 million.
While Elmandjra’s prediction sounds far-fetched, other notable cryptocurrency influencers and Bitcoin maximalists, such as MicroStrategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor, agree with his analysis.
Grayscale Sues SEC Over Failure to Approve Its ETF Application
As previously promised, Grayscale Investments has launched a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission over the regulatory agency’s decision to reject its Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.
Grayscale, which currency boasts the largest crypto assets under management (AUM), submitted a bid to convert its $12 billion worth of Bitcoin spot trust into an ETF.
The Commission maintains that fraud risks and market manipulation concerns are the main reason it has refused to approve the ETF application. Grayscale kicked against the SEC’s logic, labeling it contradictory and unfair:
“The commission arbitrarily determined that the proposed rule change was not designed to prevent fraud and manipulation, even though the Bitcoin futures ETPs that the commission has approved are exposed to exactly the same risks of fraud and manipulation as the trust’s proposed spot Bitcoin ETP.”
Bitcoin Difficulty At Sky-High Levels
Following its latest adjustment on October 10, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty has tapped an all-time high, which means it is now more difficult than at any time since the creation of BTC to mine the flagship cryptocurrency. The network's mining difficulty rose by 13.55% after the September 27 difficulty drop, printing the largest difficulty hike of the year at block height 758,016.
At press time, the cryptocurrency’s mining difficulty rate sits at 35.611 trillion, while the hash rate hovers around 277.92 million.
Bitcoin’s Price Action
As mentioned earlier, Bitcoin's price action has remained void of any notable price moves, with the cryptocurrency relying on the $19,000 line for its much-needed support.
While a price decline past the $19K mark is likely at this point, considering the apparent bearish pattern in the last eight days, a sustained bearish move beneath the $18,500 - $18,000 range seems out of the book. As such, traders will likely capitalize on such a bearish move to shore up their long bets.
BTC Statistics Data
BTC Current Price: $19,100
BTC Market Cap: $367B
BTC Circulating Supply: 19.17M
BTC Total Supply: 21M
BTC Market Ranking: #1
Disclaimer
This article should not be taken as a piece of financial advice. It is essential to conduct your research before making investment decisions.