Cryptocurrency Market Update: Bitcoin rally to $17,000 in 6 months, Ethereum 2.0 issuance to reduce to 2 million

Cryptoassets are not relenting in the fight to start the month of May on a positive note. The cryptocurrency market is mainly in the green led by NEO (4.8%), IOTA (4.36%), Ripple (3.82%), and Ethereum (3.52%). Bitcoin is lagging recovery after testing $8,400 support following a reversal from April highs at $9,500. The granddaddy of digital assets is trading at $8,774 after adding 1.73% to its value.

Ethereum 2.0 issuance to be drastically reduced

According to Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, issuance of ETH 2.0 will be reduced by a large margin. Buterin was speaking in a podcast interview with POV Crypto referred to as “Internet of Money.” He also touched on the features that distinguish Ethereum from Bitcoin as well as the reasons why the network is moving to a Proof of Stake algorithm.

One of the reasons why we’re doing Proof of Stake is because we want to greatly reduce the issuance. So in the specs for ETH 2.0 I think we have put out a calculation that the theoretical maximum issuance would be something like 2 million a year if literally everyone participates.

The ongoing testnet is recording the issuance of about 100,000 ETH per year compared to 4.7 million a year in the current Ethereum network. On the other hand, ETH 2.0 is expected to have the issuance of between 100,000 ETH and 2 million every year.

Fundstrat researchers predict Bitcoin spike to $17,000

The research at Fundstrat, a global research boutique in a note to clients predicted that Bitcoin will rally to $17,000 in six months. The prediction comes after Bitcoin crossed above the key 200-day moving average in April. As long as the price remains above this moving average, BTC/USDD uptrend will remain intact.

The co-founder of the firm, Tom Lee was bullish earlier in the year when Bitcoin was trading above $10,000. He predicted that BTC will rally to $40,000 in 2020. However, the rally was intrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The cross above the 200-day SMA means that Bitcoin has a second shot at the rally.