The crypto markets boomed this week, exhibiting their trademark volatility once again. In meteoric fashion, the bitcoin price jumped from a 5-month low of around $7,300 to a monthly high well above $10,000. Much of the cryptocurrency market followed, with ethereum posting a similarly impressive 24% gain. This was further reflected by a boost of more than $50 billion to the entire cryptocurrency market cap from Wednesday to Sunday.
Since then, things have remained relatively calm. Bitcoin retreated below $10,000, and the broader market has mostly ebbed lower. One cryptocurrency, however, is determined to keep going. NEO, refusing to give in to any correlation to bitcoin, has managed to outshine the vast majority of the market. Today, the so-called “Chinese Ethereum” has added 35% to its total value.
Without a doubt, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vow to “seize the opportunity” of blockchain technology has much to do with the renewed sentiment within the crypto market. On Thursday, during an address to the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, Xi praised bitcoin’s underlying technology, if not the decentralized cryptocurrency itself: “[We must] clarify the main direction, increase investment, focus on a number of key core technologies, and accelerate the development of blockchain technology and industrial innovation.”
