Developments around Bitcoin (November 2020)

Cryptotrader even better protected

In the past period we have noticed that more and more hackers have tried to enter our cryptotrader server. These attempts were all unsuccessful because of the strict security measures on the server. However, this causes an unnecessarily load on the server. That is why we recently installed intrusion detection software that can automatically detect hacking attempts and block the IP numbers of the hackers in the firewall.

Due to a slightly too strict setting of the intrusion detection software, normal users were also incorrectly blocked for a short time. Because of this, some people may have had trouble logging in. That problem has now been solved.

New record of Bitcoin price in 2020

On November 12, 2020, the price of Bitcoin rose to $ 16220, the highest value of 2020. In March this year, the price was still at a value of $ 3843. That is an increase of 316%. It looks like this is just the beginning of the bull run. Plan B expects a price of above $ 50,000 by the end of 2021. See also our previous blog post about Plan B .

More investments in Bitcoin by companies

It seems that in addition to consumers, companies are now also starting to invest in Bitcoin. Bitcoin is seen by many experts as gold 2.0 and ideal to protect yourself against inflation on Euros and Dollars (FIAT money). Below is an overview of recent purchases of Bitcoin by companies. More than $ 12 billion has already been invested by just a handful of companies. In total, it concerns more than 812,000 bitcoins.

Source: https://bitcointreasuries.org/

PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending

PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, announcing that its customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts.

Those virtual coins could then be used to buy things from the 26 million sellers which accept PayPal, it said.

PayPal plans to roll out buying options in the US over the next few weeks, with the full rollout due early next year.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-54630283

Number of unique bitcoin addresses increased significantly in October

The increase in the number of addresses started at the beginning of October 2020 and it does not seem to stop for the time being.

The well-known analyst Willy Woo describes a unique bitcoin address as an address with a balance above 0 satoshi. In his chart, addresses on centralized exchanges are not included. This is purely about users on the bitcoin blockchain. Interestingly, the rise started BEFORE Paypal announced to offer Bitcoin support as well. See also the graph below

Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.nl/2020/11/bitcoin-adressen-stijgen/

Coinbase Card is available in Europe

Coinbase Card is available in six new countries across Europe, enabling customers in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, and the Netherlands to spend their crypto effortlessly. Coinbase Card lets anyone with a Coinbase account in a supported country spend their crypto instantly worldwide. Since launching in the UK, Coinbase Card users have been spending their crypto as easily as the money in their bank accounts. From grocery shopping, to cocktails and dinner dates, Coinbase Card has become the go-to card in our customers’ wallets.
More info: https://www.coinbase.com/card

Bitcoin Lightning Network is still growing

Lightning Network is still under development. With the Lightning Network it is possible to make (small) Bitcoin payments very quickly. The Lightning network is still growing compared to our last check in June 2020. According to the 1ML Lightning statistics website the number of nodes is now 14,421 (+ 9.8%) and the network capacity expressed in USD is $ 15.4 million (+ 71%) as of June 2020. However, the number of channels has decreased slightly to 35,107 (- 3.6%) ).