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Binance Rings Crypto Bear Death Knell with $71 Million Q1 2019 Profit

Last Updated
Joseph Young
Last Updated

By CCN.com: Across major markets, the bitcoin price has increased by 28 percent in the past month from around $4,000 to $5,000, recording its first large spike in value since December 2018.

Possibly due to the general improvement in sentiment surrounding the cryptocurrency market, Binance has recorded a relatively large profit in the first quarter of 2019.

According to the estimates published by The Block , Binance generated a profit of over $78 million in the first quarter of 2019, up 66 percent from the first quarter of 2018.

The bitcoin price is up 28 percent in the past month (source: coinmarketcap.com)

Such a substantial increase in the profit margin of Binance from early 2018 to 2019 is captivating given that the volume of the cryptocurrency exchange market was at an all-time high in early last year due to the 2017 bull run that led the bitcoin price to surpass $20,000.

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Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Market in a Healthy Position

In 2018, despite the 80 percent decline in the bitcoin price from its all-time high, Upbit, South Korea’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange, recorded a profit of over $120 million.

Coinbase, a major U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, secured a Series E funding round from Tiger Global, bringing in $300 million in new capital at a valuation of $8 billion.

Asiff Hirji, the president and COO of Coinbase, said  in October 2018:

Today, we’re pleased to announce that Coinbase will add an additional $300 million of investment at a valuation of over $8 billion to accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The Series E equity round is led by Tiger Global Management, with participation from Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain and others.

From its all-time high, the cryptocurrency market remains down by about 78 percent in valuation. But, the confidence of investors in the long-term survivability of the market has noticeably increased in recent months.

The confidence likely stems from the resilience of the industry and the relatively high developer activity in the cryptocurrency sector despite the plunge in the valuation of most cryptocurrencies.

As Xapo CEO Wences Casares wrote in an essay, the chances of bitcoin succeeding over the long run have increased because of the track record of the dominant cryptocurrency throughout the past 10 years.

Developer activity, the inflow of capital, and the overall spending of resources in the cryptocurrency industry most likely have dropped in the past 16 months due to the correction of the market.

But, the industry has shown signs of growth and improvement in areas such as compliance and institutionalization, which may be seen as a positive indicator of growth for investors.

“But after 10 years of working well without interruption, with more than 60 million holders, adding more than 1 million new holders per month and moving more than $1 billion per day worldwide, it has a good chance of succeeding. In my (subjective) opinion those chances of succeeding are at least 50%,” Casares explained .

What Technical Analysts See in Short-Term

Throughout the past ten years, bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market have moved in cycles. Bitcoin would endure an 85 to 90 percent correction, recover, and achieve a new high point.

Although it remains to be seen whether the asset would be able to rebound to previous levels in the foreseeable future, one technical analyst suggested that bitcoin may be in its “blow off phase,” or potentially the last phase of the bear market.

Currently, bitcoin still remains down about 75 percent from its peak and some investors have said that it would have to recover beyond key resistance levels in the $5,000 to $6,500 range to confirm the beginning of a new rally.

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Joseph Young

Financial analyst based in Seoul, South Korea. Contributing regularly to CCN and Forbes. I have covered the stock market and bitcoin since 2013. Reach him on Twitter  or LinkedIn .
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