The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has risen to above $500 billion again after plunging to as low as $279 billion on February 6.
All major cryptocurrencies rebounded this week after a very tumultuous start to 2018.
The cryptocurrency market cap was approaching a $1 trillion valuation at the start of the year before all major coin prices collapsed.
Bitcoin (BTC) has remained well above the $10,000 level, currently trading at around $10,750. The cryptocurrency is up by around 7 percent compared to 24 hours ago and up by almost 80% compared to when it fell to $6,000 at the beginning of the month.
Ethereum is also climbing up, making its way back up to the $1000 level. As press time, Ethereum is trading at $963 – nearly a 3 percent increase compared to yesterday.
Anonymous trader bought $400 billion worth of bitcoin
The recent rebound in prices is believed to have prompted an anonymous trader to acquire $400 billion worth of bitcoin. Between February 9 and February 12 an account with the bitcoin address 3Cbq7aT1tY8kMxWLbitaG7yT6bPbKChq64 saw its balance surge from 55,000 BTC up to more than 96,000 BTC.
US government not close to regulating bitcoin yet
According to CNBC, Rob Joyce, special assistant to the president and White House cybersecurity coordinator, said that the US government “is nowhere close to regulating bitcoin”
At the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Joyce was asked about the potential for government regulation. He said:
“I think we’re still absolutely studying and understanding what the good ideas and bad ideas in that space are.”
“So, I don’t think it’s close.”
A cryptocurrency is a kind of digital money, i.e., money that exists purely in electronic form. It is an encrypted online currency. The encryption makes it ultra-secure.