Bitcoin Recovers From Thanksgiving Lows Above $18.5K, Ethereum Flirts With Crucial $600 Mark

Bitcoin recovered to above the $18,500 levels at press-time after plunging as low as $16,351.03 last week on Thursday.

What Happened: Blockchain analytics firm Glassnode tweeted Sunday that the mining difficulty for the apex cryptocurrency rose to 8.9%, which is below 4.4% of Bitcoin’s all-time high value.

#Bitcoin mining difficulty increased by 8.9% today.

It is now only 4.4% below its ATH.

Chart: https://t.co/qtmuDmTfGS pic.twitter.com/1eX63yBAgc

— glassnode (@glassnode) November 29, 2020

An increase in mining difficulty preceded the bull cycles of 2013 and 2016, Cointelegraph reported.

Other major altcoins followed Bitcoin’s lead with Ethereum (ETH) rising 8.06% to $582.80, XRP rising 2.22% to $0.625, and Chainlink (LINK) rising 7.02% to $13.98 in a 24-hour period leading up to press time.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin rose 4.94% and 6.81% to $289.26 and $79.15, respectively.

Why It Matters: Cryptocurrencies have been garnering increased interest from institutional investors, which has fueled a spike in Bitcoin prices. 

On Sunday, Guggenheim Strategic Opportunities Fund GOF said it was considering exposure to the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. 

Guggenheim Partners — with $295 billion under management — is considering investing up to 10% of the Macro Opportunities Fund's net asset value in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust closed 9.73% at $18.83 on Friday. On the same day, Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETHE closed 11.9% lower at $85.06, and Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust BCHG closed 16.08% lower at $28.50.

Price Action: Bitcoin traded 4% higher at $18,534.80 at press time.