As many as 488 206 new Bitcoin addresses were created daily in the first half of 2021, totalling 88 365 209 new addresses for the period.
This is according to data compiled by the Blockchain Centre, which notes the Bitcoin network continues to witness an eye-popping level of activity on its blockchain, despite high volatility in Q2, after the asset sharply declined from its all-time-high set in April 2021.
The report comes as crypto-currency hedge funds are bullish about Bitcoin’s price for the asset that hit an all-time-high of almost $65 000 in April, amid a blistering rally. They believe the Bitcoin price will hit $100 000 this year.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $46 000.
“Privacy reasons, together with the ever-increasing adoption rate of decentralised finance, are the main forces behind the surprising number of new Bitcoin addresses,” says Tadas Maurukas, CEO of Blockchain Centre.
Blockchain Centre researchers extracted the information for the report from Glassnode Studio, a gateway to on-chain data for the most popular blockchain platforms.
According to the organisation, January had the highest number of newly-generated BTC addresses per day at 551 132. The total for the month reached a never-before-seen height of 17 085 095 unique addresses, it adds.
June was on the other side of the spectrum, with the lowest number of newly-created addresses for the period at 370 269 per day.
Nonetheless, Blockchain Centre notes the total average volume of new addresses for the period under review was still substantial at 11 108 070.
It adds that the volume of daily new addresses kept decreasing on a monthly basis. “On average, daily new addresses decreased 7.49% per month in the first half of the year. The most significant drops were from April to May 2021, at 12.04%, and from May to June 2021, at 15.19%,” says Maurukas.
“Even with the volume of new addresses slightly decreasing in the past months, millions of new addresses still confirm the global adoption of digital currencies is at an all-time-high.”
Blockchain Centre points out it is worth noting that a Bitcoin address indicates the source or destination of a crypto-currency payment.
“Blockchain being a public platform, people can see the current value of a particular address, the number of transactions that address completed, and the amount of crypto-currencies it sent and received,” it says.
New record price expectations
Meanwhile, crypto-currency trading simulator Crypto Parrot says despite Bitcoin recently experiencing volatility, the asset is attempting to mount another resurgence towards a new record price.
It notes crypto hedge funds are, therefore, increasingly projecting the asset to hit a new level towards the end of the year.
Crypto Parrot’s data indicates that 65% of 55 crypto hedge funds that participated in a survey remain bullish, predicting Bitcoin will trade between $50 000 and $100 000 by the end of 2021.
Another 21% believe the asset will hit the $100 000 to $150 000 price mark by 31 December.
About 9% of the hedge funds also project a positive outlook, stating Bitcoin will trade at between $150 000 and $200 000, while 4% put the price target at $200 000. However, only 1% of the hedge funds project Bitcoin to trade below $50 000.
Elsewhere, the hedge funds, at 63%, also predicted the crypto-currency market capitalisation would hit a value of between $2 trillion and $5 trillion. About 21% projected the market cap to range between $1 trillion and $2 trillion by the end of the year.
Another 11% put the market cap at between $5 trillion to $10 trillion, while 2% put the projections upwards of $10 trillion. However, 3% believe the market cap will be below $2 trillion by the end of the year.
“A possible influx of institutional capital will also propel Bitcoin’s market capitalisation to new levels,” says the firm.
“The asset’s market cap previously caught the financial world’s attention by surpassing the valuation of traditional financial institutions, like leading banks. Such developments have led Bitcoin to remain resilient, mainly due to existing and potential investors becoming numb to negative news around the crypto-currency.”
However, it points out the price projection might be hampered by the unclear regulatory outlook in most jurisdictions.
Historically, negative regulatory news around the asset resulted in the price dropping, says Crypto Parrot.
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