Something big just happened on the Bitcoin blockchain. Crypto analytics firm CoinMetrics noted that $8 trillion worth of transactions have been made on the crypto king blockchain. This means that more and more people are using Bitcoin to transact in their daily lives more than ever.
But does this mean a widespread adoption is already underway?
What Does This Milestone Mean?
The $8 trillion transaction metric might not be so much of a big deal as some would hope. The number was generated over the course of 2022, a period that was strongly bearish against the entire financial system as a whole. A quick look at the charts show that at the start of 2022, Bitcoin has already fallen from its all-time-high back in November of 2021.
Bitcoin blockchain transaction chart for 2022. Source: CoinMetrics
Since then, multiple high-profile bankruptcies and implosions broke out in the latter half of 2022 – from Terra Luna and the UST depeg to the FTX collapse, investors and traders can confidently say that they lost trust in the crypto industry as a whole.
Although some are certainly bullish that Bitcoin will have a bigger role in the financial space, like how NBA team Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban argued that people who hold gold than BTC are “stupid,” at the end of the day the crypto is still a speculative asset.
With fears of an incoming recession affecting the broader financial market, investors will place their capital on safe-haven assets to hedge their portfolio from risk like gold or bonds.
BTC total market cap at $324 billion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com
BTC Reached A Milestone, What Now?
Currently, Bitcoin investors and traders are keeping tabs on January’s economic calendar for a glimpse at the current macro trends. But the recent news of BTC reaching $8 trillion worth of transactions certainly had an effect on the market.
As of writing, CoinGecko notes a 0.7% gain in the daily timescale with 0.9% on the weekly. This may indicate that investor sentiment found renewed vigor after the news. However, the strength of this bullish sentiment will be tested once the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Meeting Minutes concludes.
Image: Zipmex
Although there are fears of a recession, the broader financial market is hopeful that the macro trends have improved. Bitcoin being one of the major veins connected to the traditional finance space, improving macro means gains for the top crypto which would pull the entire crypto industry upwards.
Right now, BTC is changing hands at $16,820, just a tad shy of the target $17,000 resistance level. Investors and traders should wait for the FOMC Meeting Minutes to unravel before making bigger decisions.
If the Fed is still hawkish on the market and the macroeconomic situation, expect more pain to come in the coming weeks or months.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s latest $8 trillion in transaction-milestone should provide a welcome respite from doubts that still hound the broader crypto market and the bitter after-taste from the bad things that marred 2022.
-Featured image: Esports.net
