What Happened In The Cryptocurrency Markets This Week?

Bitcoin appears to be on its way to recovery following a sharp pullback at the end of last week. On Thursday 28th March the pullback started. The day before, Bitcoin peaked just over $57K, with Bitcoin's price dropping to almost $51K at the end of the day on Thursday. As the digital asset rally spreads across bitcoin, Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world, is hitting new highs. On Friday, the Ethereum network's digital token gained 6.2%, reaching a high of $2,144 on Saturday.

According to CoinMarketCap.com, Ether has a market value of around $230 billion, compared to about $1.1 trillion for Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has been steadily increasing in value. The rise appears to have been aided by the news this week that both Visa and Paypal intend to deepen their involvement in the crypto world.

We continue to hear good news about institutional adoption, such as Goldman Sachs' intentions to give wealth to clients and the continued filings and approvals of ETFs in Canada and Brazil, as well as filings in the United States.

On Thursday, JPMorgan issued a note arguing that if bitcoin's volatility continues to decline, it could fetch a long-term price of $130,000. According to Business Insider, Bitcoin is becoming more appealing to institutions looking for low-correlation assets to diversify their portfolios.

Morgan Stanley disclosed in an SEC filing on March 31 that 12 of its existing institutional funds could gain exposure to Bitcoin through cash-settled futures and investments with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

After all, as the US continues to implement COVID stimulus, the USD's status as the world's default currency may be impeded.

There's still some debate over whether Bitcoin is a real "hedge against inflation," but there's more BTC buy and sell than ever before by more investors, and particularly by the institutions.