Yesterday, on November 30, the bitcoin price dipped below $9,100, dropping to $9,000 at one point, as a massive sell-off occurred on Bitfinex, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
Within hours, the price of bitcoin recovered back to $10,200, surging by more than $1,200.
Major Corrections Expected
Throughout 2017, the bitcoin price continuously achieved new all-time highs without major corrections apart from the November 12 Bitcoin-Bitcoin Cash crash. As such, many analysts stated that a major correction is due, given that the bitcoin price has sustained upward momentum across various rallies without large sell-offs
BitGo engineer Jameson Lopp stated that a 50 percent correction or decline in the price of bitcoin would only set it two months back, emphasizing the exponential growth rate of bitcoin throughout 2017.
Hence, it is expected that minor and major price corrections will occur along the way, especially in the short-term.
However, on November 29, CCN reported that $6.8 trillion stock exchange Nasdaq, the second largest stock market in the world behind the New York Stock Exchange, has revealed its plans to enable bitcoin futures trading within the first half of 2018.
“According to sources familiar with the Nasdaq’s plans for a bitcoin futures exchange launch, Nasdaq’s bitcoin futures and contracts will be listed on Nasdaq Futures. Through that, investors in the traditional finance sector and stock brokerages will be able to engage in bitcoin trading,” according to the report.
Optimism Around Bitcoin Futures, Will Bitcoin Initiate Another Rally by End of 2017
Given the entrance of Nasdaq and other large-scale financial institutions such as Cantor into the bitcoin market, the global bitcoin market will demonstrate significant optimism around the mid-term growth trend of bitcoin.
Earlier this month, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that $10 billion in institutional money is expected to flow into the bitcoin market by the end of 2017. That number could drastically increase with Nasdaq’s integration of bitcoin futures in the first half of 2018, as Nasdaq would allow the vast majority of investors in the traditional finance sector to engage in bitcoin trading and invest in the new asset class.
In an interview with Wall Street Journal, Shawn Matthews, chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., noted that bitcoin is a new asset class that is here to stay, sharing a similar sentiment as CME chairman Leo Melamed.
“The asset class is not going away. If you look at the next level, it will be the institutions coming in and being larger participants in the marketplace, especially as liquidity gets better,” said Matthews.
Billionaire investor Mike Novogratz and Bitfury vice chairman George Kikvadze explained that the majority of investors and exchanges in the traditional finance sector are considering a move into the bitcoin market.
“Every research department of every regulated exchange is saying, ‘Can we do this?. The majority of costs associated with that are marketing. If people want to trade this thing, why wouldn’t you?. This is a gift from the heavens,” John D’Agostino, a former Nymex executive, added.
In consideration of the bitcoin market’s optimism surrounding Nasdaq’s bitcoin futures launch and the entrance of billions of dollars in institutional money into the bitcoin market, the price of bitcoin will likely increase throughout December.