Bitcoin leads surge in cryptocurrencies

Chennai: Notwithstanding the reticent mood of RBI in recognizing crypto-currencies, almost all of them are on rampage with bitcoins leading the charge.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency being traded globally, hit a record-high of $12,000 for the first time on Wednesday. A move that saw others like IOTA up 1,300%, Monero up 243% and Dash up 171%.
The market cap of all digital currencies, which reached an all-time high of more than $370 billion on Wednesday, makes the market more valuable that many of the Dow 30 majors.
But experts are cautious. "The correction is inevitable and will happen sooner or later. See, today's trading highs were not because of bitcoin regulars, it was because of interest from investors, who traditionally traded in other asset classes. What we are seeing this month is unimaginable; our volumes are up 300%," says Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder, Unocoin

Chennai: Notwithstanding the reticent mood of RBI in recognizing crypto-currencies, almost all of them are on rampage with bitcoins leading the charge.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency being traded globally, hit a record-high of $12,000 for the first time on Wednesday. A move that saw others like IOTA up 1,300%, Monero up 243% and Dash up 171%.
The market cap of all digital currencies, which reached an all-time high of more than $370 billion on Wednesday, makes the market more valuable that many of the Dow 30 majors.
But experts are cautious. "The correction is inevitable and will happen sooner or later. See, today's trading highs were not because of bitcoin regulars, it was because of interest from investors, who traditionally traded in other asset classes. What we are seeing this month is unimaginable; our volumes are up 300%," says Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder, Unocoin.

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Another trend that is being spotted is the inflow of institutional money into a largely fragmented and unregulated market and the possibility of futures contracts for digital currency. If futures contracts and hedging is started for bitcoins, experts feel that this will take away the risk, price speculation and volatility that current marks cryptocurrency trading.
Another digital currency which has seen tremendous growth in the last 24 hours is IOTA, which hit a high of $5 on Wednesday, replacing Ripple's XRP as the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency. IOTA's rally comes as biggies like Microsoft and Samsung announced a partnership with its network.
Industry officials attribute geo-political angle for the surge. Countries like Venezula are betting on cryptocurrency to get past America's long arms of political sanction. As political instability and a drop in oil prices hit more Latin American countries, interest in cryptocurrency may see an upsurge.
Karthik Iyer, Indian ambassador to the P2P Foundation, says multiple global factors have favoured cryptocurrencies leading to the rise in value. "Several governments have either legally recognised cryptocurrencies or have announced that they will come up with a legal framework (like Singapore and Gibraltar)," said Iyer. He adds that growth of the ecosystem in itself is driving prices.