Jingle bells and BTC swells as Bitcoin enters Dec at $38K – What to expect this month

As we usher in the festive season with the familiar jingle of bells, there’s another sound making waves in the financial world – the resounding surge of Bitcoin as it enters December at an impressive $38,000. Much like a sleigh on a snowy slope, the cryptocurrency market is gearing up for an exhilarating ride into the last month of the year.

Will the value continue to swell like a festive chorus, or will there be unexpected dips and rises, akin to a rollercoaster ride in a winter wonderland?

Bitcoin enters the festive season grounded above $38K

The crypto market has been in recovery mode for the last two months. This is largely driven by the return on investors’ faith in the market. Second, it is spurred by the possibility of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs being approved in the United States.

Following a period of volatile trading in recent times, crypto prices opened the day in positive territory. Investors adopted a cautious approach in evaluating the present economic state and other pertinent factors. 

Significantly, investors’ sentiment in the digital asset space was divided for the duration of the week, as regulatory obstacles and other factors cast doubt on the sector.

According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $38,153.81, with a 24-hour trading volume of $12,113,428,991.09. This is a 0.57% increase in the  24 hours and a 2.10% increase in the last 7 days.

In addition, the global crypto market valuation is now $1.51 trillion, a 1.13% increase over the last 24 hours and a 68.57% increase over a year ago. Bitcoin has a market cap of $746 billion as of today, signifying a 49.45% market dominance. Meanwhile, the market cap of stablecoins is $130 billion, accounting for 8.62% of the total crypto market cap.

The recent surge in crypto prices indicates that market participants’ confidence was bolstered at the beginning of December. In the meantime, the market appears to have regained confidence as October PCE inflation data, a key indicator of inflation, decreased to 3%.

As of the present day’s high point, Bitcoin has experienced a surge of over 10% over the past 30 days and a 121% ascent over the past year.

Overall crypto market performance

As December begins, the constant second-place digital asset Ethereum is also on the upswing. At the time of writing, the price of Ethereum (ETH) is $2,089.87, with a 24-hour trading volume of $15,015,647,242.75. This indicates a 2.56% increase in the last 24 hours and a 1.02% increase in the last 7 days. 

Ethereum is a long way from its all-time high of $4,732 on November 11, 2021. Meanwhile, Solana and Dogecoin have made significant advances in recent weeks.

Solana (SOL) is trading at $60.39 today, with a 24-hour trading volume of $1,379,919,242.74. This indicates a -0.34% decrease in the last 24 hours and a 5.71% gain in the last 7 days.

Dogecoin (DOGE) is currently trading at $0.083944 with a 24-hour trading volume of $878,313,501.97. This indicates a 3.09% increase in the last 24 hours and a 9.08% gain in the last 7 days. 

Furthermore, the Bitcoin market fear and greed index stands at 71, indicating a bullish, primarily “greed” sentiment in the market.

OPNX token jumps by 50% following Su Zhu’s unforeseen post of a ‘gm.’

The native token of the crypto bankruptcy claims platform OPNX, Open Exchange Token (OX), surged 50% just 20 minutes after co-founder Su Zhu allegedly posted to X (Twitter) for the first time since his incarceration.

Su’s first X post since Sept. 29, when he was arrested at Singapore’s Changi Airport while attempting to flee the country, was a simple “gm” — an acronym for “good morning” — on Dec. 1.

OX retraced by roughly 6% shortly after the price top. Its market capitalization has risen to more than $104.5 million. Su was detained on September 29 while attempting to flee Singapore after a court ordered him imprisoned for contempt of court.

Su was ordered to serve four months in prison, which meant he wouldn’t be released until next year, though others have speculated he may have been released after a wallet labeled “suzhu.eth” — thought to belong to Su (though unverified) — became operational again on Nov. 29.

OPNX, which stands for Open Exchange, is a platform that allows trading creditor claims from bankrupt cryptocurrency enterprises.