- Bitcoin high so far at USD 6,981
- China appears to be a favorite destination for global brands like Microsoft and Mastercard to register new blockchain patents
- Bitcoin whales have hit a two-year high as 2016 patterns emerge
Bitcoin has yet to reclaim the territory it lost on Friday, although it has managed to prevent further losses with a daily low so far of USD 6,752, and trading right now close to the high at USD 6,981 (CoinDesk) as bulls attempt to stave off a bad weekend for the crypto markets.
Apparently, though, optimists have not been shying away from Bitcoin as positive undertones get stronger as the Bitcoin halving event approaches. In fact, according to data aggregator Glassnode, we are witnessing many more Bitcoin whales right now than at any other point over the past 24 months, a pattern that is bearing an uncanny resemblance to the trend prior to 2016’s Bitcoin halving. In its Week On-Chain analysis, it reveals that major Bitcoin investors — those who hold significant amount of coins in their wallets — have hit a two-year high and, according to them, could see even more room to expand with little signs of slowing down.
Now just a month away from the 2020 halving event, there are almost 1,850 such wallets holding at least 1,000 bitcoins (today worth almost USD 7 million). At this point of time in 2016, when halving had several months yet to go, there were almost exactly the same number of whales.
It believes that this could mean that whales understand the market and are reacting in almost the same manner. The report reads:
“This trend implies that despite an uncertain market environment, whales remain confident that now is a good time to be accumulating BTC, suggesting that they believe there is further room for growth.”
Market bottom in, or more blood to come??
The on-chain metric Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) went below zero after the recent market crash. Historically, NUPL has stayed in the red zone for several months before retracing. Will this time be any different? (Source: @glassnode) pic.twitter.com/E0Ji2sCkC7— Arcane Research (@ArcaneResearch) April 7, 2020
Crypto analytics firm Arcane Research also used Glassnode numbers to predict that the market could already be approaching a bottom. Glassnode summarized:
“Looking at Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL), they question whether BTC has more room to drop before recovering, despite already being undervalued according to this metric.”
And the big boys in traditional business have never been more keen on blockchain technology, either, as it has emerged that multinationals and large American corporates are looking to the National Intellectual Property Administration of China to register new blockchain patents, with over 2,100 patents already issued from the Chinese body to foreign-based companies from 2017 to 2019.
And this year is no different, with Global Times reporting that at least 35 multinationals including Microsoft, Walmart, Mastercard, Sony and Intel, had already sent in 212 blockchain patent applications in the first quarter of the year. Credit card issuer Mastercard leads the pack with 46 patents, although there isn’t a clear sign about what they could be applying for specifically, though it is speculated that these will be related to their new global blockchain payments initiative being developed in collaboration with enterprise blockchain developers R3.
Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone company is a far off second with 13 applications, though others like Intel (12) and Oracle (9) aren’t that far down the pecking order.
Despite the slew of patent applications, none of these brands have actually begun any kind of company related to blockchain in China, suggesting that they could simply be in a phase of technological accumulation pending a future activation. The move isn’t reciprocated either, as Chinese companies still prefer to do things locally, with only 4.17% of 1.2 million Chinese patent applications in 2016 filed abroad. This, compared to 43% of half a million patents filed by American companies overseas, suggests a more relaxed regulatory attitude toward emerging technology in China.
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