The bitcoin price achieved a new all-time high on Tuesday, even as CBOE processed lower volumes of bitcoin futures during the second full day of trading.
Bitcoin Price Hits New All-Time High
Tuesday was a record-setting day for the cryptocurrency markets. Both litecoin and ethereum exploded to new all-time highs, and the total cryptocurrency market cap raced to within $10 billion of the $500 billion mark.
The bitcoin price, meanwhile, remained relatively calm during the early morning hours, but it began to break out in the early afternoon. On Bitfinex, the bitcoin price broke through $17,500 to set a new all-time high, while its global average rose to within a few hundred dollars of the all-time high it set during last Friday’s trading frenzy. This rally constituted a single-day increase of approximately five percent, and it raised bitcoin’s market cap to $293 billion.
Bitfinex continued to lead in trading volume, even as it tailed the rally. Notably, LTC/BTC accounted for five of bitcoin’s 10 highest-volume trading pairs, a byproduct of litecoin’s early-week melt-up that carried the fourth-largest cryptocurrency above $400 on at least one exchange.
CBOE Futures Post Lower Second-Day Volumes
But even as bitcoin volume surged past $14 billion, bitcoin futures saw a significant decline in activity during their second full day of trading on regulated U.S. exchange CBOE. During the first full day of trading, CBOE processed more than $50 million worth of contracts. However, as of 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, the exchange had processed fewer than 1,000 contracts — worth approximately $17 million — for its XBT/F8, its most-traded bitcoin product.
Futures prices continued to signal that traders believe the bitcoin price will increase heading into the new year but will slow down its rally considerably. At the time of writing, January futures were priced at $18,350, while February and March contracts traded close to $19,000.
However, a breaking story could cause both the spot and futures prices to soar even higher. An eBay executive told Yahoo Finance that the tech giant is “seriously considering” accepting bitcoin payments. Although he stressed that the company is “not quite there yet,” the fact that an e-commerce platform as ubiquitous as eBay is considering integrating cryptocurrency payments signals that the blockchain industry is rapidly permeating the mainstream.
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