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<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nSource: Bloomberg<\/em><\/p>\n And at $539 billion, the largest cryptocurrency\u00a0surpassed<\/a>\u00a0the market cap yesterday of finance giant Berkshire Hathaway, the CEO of which, Warren Buffett,\u00a0famously likened<\/a>\u00a0Bitcoin to \u201crat poison squared.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n image courtesy of CoinTelegraph<\/em><\/p>\n And while crypto may remain “rat poison” to some,\u00a0CoinTelegraph’s William Suberg notes<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0bitcoin has posted its highest transaction volume since early 2018 as data points to more and more investors entering the market.<\/strong><\/p>\n Figures from on-chain analytics resource Digital Assets Data highlights December 2020 as already sparking Bitcoin\u2019s second-largest transaction volumes.<\/p>\n At a total of $252.37 billion for the remaining 24 hours of December may yet take the tally further still as it rivals December 2017.<\/p>\n Bitcoin transaction volume 1-month chart. Source: Digital Assets Data<\/em><\/p>\n Other indicators, such as the size of unprocessed transactions in Bitcoin\u2019s\u00a0mempool<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0network transaction fees<\/a>, also suggest heightened activity overall.<\/p>\n As Cointelegraph additionally\u00a0reported<\/a>, wallets containing both large and small balances also continue to increase to unprecedented levels.<\/p>\n Google Trends<\/a>, meanwhile, has captured the highest levels of search interest in the term \u201cBitcoin\u201d worldwide since February 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n Google search interest in “Bitcoin.” Source: Google Trends<\/em><\/p>\n The reason, one which is attracting attention from mainstream sources as well as seasoned crypto traders, lies in the price bull run that is\u00a0continuing unabated<\/a>\u00a0this week.<\/p>\n Despite its 290% year-to-date returns, however, Bitcoin still pales in comparison to the performance of the largest altcoin Ether (ETH<\/a>). As Digital Assets Data confirms, ETH\/USD has sealed gains of almost 500% since Jan. 1. Versus the March lows, performance is even stronger.<\/p>\n Bitcoin vs. Ether year-to-date returns chart. Source: Digital Assets Data<\/em><\/p>\n In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Bobby Ong, creator of price data site Coingecko, gave his predictions for the crypto market in 2021. Among the major tokens, Ether would see a return to higher transaction fees but pass its existing all-time high from 2018.<\/p>\n \u201cETH will break past its $1,500 ATH mainly driven by DeFi. Gas fees will skyrocket again and highlight scalability issues,\u201d he\u00a0wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the year will be spent coordinating on a Layer 2 scalability solution. My bet will be on ZK Rollup gaining traction towards the end of the year.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For Bitcoin, Ong\u00a0forecast a price trajectory<\/a>\u00a0towards $100,000, alongside the launch of a long-awaited exchange-traded fund and the first central bank adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nBTC transaction volume eyes record<\/h2>\n
<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\n<\/picture><\/a><\/p>\nEther continues to outperform<\/h2>\n
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