New BTC Peak, Bullish XRP Price Predictions, Pi Network Warning: Bits Recap Dec 17

TL;DR

• Bitcoin (BTC) reached a new all-time high of almost $108,000. Analysts predict it could climb to $250,000 or even $500,000 this cycle.
• Ripple’s XRP surged over 130% in a month, trading above $2.50. Market observers set short-term targets between $5.85 and $8.76.
• Pi Network urged users to rely on official channels and use the verified Pi Wallet. The launch of the open network is pending, with approximately one million verifications left.

BTC Hits a New ATH

The primary cryptocurrency has been on a tear in the past seven days, registering a price increase of over 10%. Several hours ago, it tapped a new all-time high of almost $108,000. In the following hours, BTC experienced enhanced volatility and eventually stabilized at its current $107,000 (per CoinGecko’s data). 

BTC Price, Source: CoinGecko

It is important to note that the asset’s new peak came shortly after MicroStrategy announced its latest crypto purchase. As CryptoPotato reported, the business intelligence company acquired 15,350 BTC at an average price of $100,386. Its total holdings increased to 439,000 BTC, which, according to ongoing rates, equals nearly $47 billion. 

Massive purchases of that type leave fewer assets available on the open market, which could potentially result in a price rally (assuming demand stays the same or rises). However, when MicroStrategy disclosed multi-billion Bitcoin purchases the previous two times, BTC’s valuation briefly headed south. 

The asset’s push toward a new ATH aligns with overall bullish sentiment among popular analysts on X. Jake Gagain said he would be surprised if BTC doesn’t reach $250,000 this cycle, while Michael van de Poppe believes the price could explode to as high as $500,000.

XRP Price Forecasts

Another leading cryptocurrency that has pumped substantially as of late is Ripple’s XRP. Its price is up over 130% in the past month, currently trading well above $2.50.

XRP Price, Source: CoinGecko

Some factors possibly fueling the resurgence include the overall market revival and the upcoming launch of Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD. The product is supposed to go live on many exchanges in the next two days. Among the first to embrace it are Uphold, MoonPay, Bitso, CoinMENA, and more.

Many industry participants believe XRP’s latest spike could be just the beginning of a major bull run that has yet to be witnessed. The X users JAVON MARKS recently forecasted a potential price explosion, while Dark Defender set $5.85 and $8.76 as short-term targets. The latter also outlined $2.29, $2.24, $2.10, and $2.02 as major support zones. 

X user Scofield chipped in, too, advising XRP investors to consider selling their positions once the asset’s valuation climbs to $5. 

Pi Network Alerts

Last but not least, we will conclude with two warnings that came from the controversial cryptocurrency project Pi Network. The team urged users to rely only on information shared on official channels. They provided a dedicated safety page showing all the sources and URL links the community can refer to. 

The developers also warned people to use only their Pi Wallets in the designated Pi Browser. “Ensure you’re in the correct Pi Wallet, not any fake one, to safeguard your Pi. The authentic Pi Wallet is also visually identified by a purple color in the navigation bar of the Pi Browser with a Pi logo featuring the Core Team apps logo,” the warning reads.

Pi Network saw the light of day in 2019, amassing a multi-million community in the following years. However, it has yet to launch its native token and open mainnet, which has created some controversy. According to the team, the open network will see the light of day once 15 million people complete the necessary verifications. Pi News recently claimed that only one million are left to do so. 

In addition, the Pi Core Team promised to announce the mainnet open roadmap in December, which should provide more clarity on when users will be able to buy and sell Pi tokens.

It remains to be seen whether the final weeks of 2024 will bring significant developments or there will be further delays.