No one can predict how long this latest price run will go, but some data does help to understand how strong it is at any given moment.
What Volume Tells Us
Take Bitcoin volume for example. The latest upswing has not seen the same kind of intense trading that the last major run exhibited. Back in February, 2021 when BTC was trading at the same price as today (around $46K), volume was more than double ($107 billion vs. $46 billion/daily).
It's a similar case for Ethereum. $50 billion was traded in a day back in May vs. $27 billion today with ETH trading at a similar level ($3,263).
Volume only tells us so much, but it does suggest that there is still plenty of money on the sidelines that hasn't entered the market.
Other Advances
There have also been several real advances in top blockchains. Ethereum's upgrade to a new fee system (en route to a full ETH 2.0 upgrade) as well as Cardano's announcement of smart contracts going live in September, are likely driving some of this increased interest. That CNBC and Forbes now cover crypto news like any other is a significant sign that interest has grown well beyond the niche crypto community (see links).
The Need for Real Use Cases
More real life applications are necessary for crypto adoption beyond defi (staking/lending/farming. Some of these uses include security and portability of personal healthcare information, fractional real estate ownership, and supply chain transparency.
When partnerships, mergers, usage statistics for dApps, and mainstream adoption begins to dominate the news more than meme coin pump-a-dumps, we'll know these companies are serving real customer and business needs. An alternate financial system has its merits, but it is only a small fraction of the broader potential of this technology.
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Also on Twitter @Bkcrypt01 and Reddit
Other articles:
- Why You Should Ignore Bitcoin Price Predictions
- Beyond Bitcoin, What to Watch in Crypto Markets
- Crypto Is Not a Real Market Until Bitcoin Loses Influence
Photo credits:@Executium and Austin Distel on Unsplash
