It’s a bullish day in the cryptosphere. Paypal makes a blockchain investment and Bitcoin jumps above $5,079 USD.

Bitcoin Jump: April Fool’s Joke?

Bitcoin gained 21% in early trade and has now slightly corrected back down to $4,712 according to CoinMarketCap. However, no one knows why the Bitcoin jump happened in the first place. Now, some investors wonder if the rally was the result of some sort of April Fool’s joke.

Zhao Changpeng, the chief executive officer of Binance, tweeted earlier today that he was “clueless” about what may have triggered Bitcoin’s jump.

Crypto Winter

Packing on over $600 in one night, the last time Bitcoin hit levels like this was in November. The top cryptocurrency plunged more than 70% in 2018 and has been stagnating through most of 2019 thus far. This period has been dubbed the “crypto winter,” and while today’s rally is impressive, analysts believe that “the bounce is not enough to reset crypto winter.”

According to Julien Auchecorne, London-based chief operating officer at XBTO International: “we have no major new products and last year’s big breakthroughs are still in their nascent stage.”

For Bitcoin’s jump to sustain itself, then bulls should hope for a bigger fundamental reason for the coin to climb.

PayPal

Elsewhere in the blockchain industry, payment giant PayPal has made its first blockchain investment debut.

>> Bitcoin Price Jumps 20% on Technical Breakout: More Coins Follow

Announced today, PayPal has joined a Series A funding round for Cambridge Blockchain, a startup that helps financial institutions and other companies manage sensitive data using shared ledgers.

The investment amount has not been disclosed but what is known thus far is that Cambridge Blockchain has so far raised a total of $3.5 million in new equity. The firm has several investors who have backed it over the past nine months. So far, the blockchain startup has raised a total capital of $10.5 million.

This is the first investment PayPal has put into a blockchain company. The move may help to encourage greater adoption of blockchain technology and its relevant assets.

Between the massive Bitcoin jump and PayPal’s blockchain investment, there is good news all round in the cryptocurrency industry today!

Featured Image: Pixabay

Where Bitcoin (BTC) goes, the rest of the crypto market tends to follow. And with the top ten in green, it stands to reason that Bitcoin price is also faring nicely. In fact, BTC price as of late has been giving investors food for thought.

The first three months of 2019 have seen the coin make double-digit gains and this marks its best quarterly performance since Q4 2017.

While 2018 saw the coin hit all-time-lows, 2019 has surprised somewhat.

Bitcoin Price

Today, Bitcoin price is up 1.29% and selling for $4,157.87 USD per coin. Mid last week saw the coin finally rise above the $4,000 resistance mark and it has maintained its stronghold above that mark—even hitting highs of $4,275 on Saturday.

The current price represents a 13% gain on January’s opening price of $3,693, according to Bitstamp data.

This is the first time Bitcoin has made a double-digit quarterly gain since the end of 2017 when prices rallied a 220.84%. While it is no way near those days—and Bitcoin has dropped about 80% in value since— the double-digit gain still gives bulls something to hold onto.

Binance Coin

Elsewhere on the market, other coins besides Bitcoin are also in the green, with Binance Coin (BNB) leading the pack. Currently, Binance Coin is up 4.59%, continuing a high from the news that it was the top performing crypto in the top 10 coins in Q1 2019.

BNB surged 185% during this period, jumping from $6.069 to $17.335, according to Messari. Now, BNB is trading at $18.03 USD per coin.

Stellar (XLM)

Stellar (XLM) is on the rise almost 3% at the time of writing, selling for $0.11 USD approximately. Stellar has been on a roll since the beginning of 2019. The first lift came from Coinbase announcing a $100 million USD Stellar airdrop.

>> Social Media Companies Join the Crypto World: Facebook and VKontakte

Then, news that IBM would be using the Stellar blockchain to power its latest deals with banking institutions also lifted the coin.

All-in-all, between the first week of February and the end of March, the total market capitalization of Stellar is up by more than 29.7% according to CoinMarketcap.

What coins do you have your eyes on? Were you excited by the growth in Bitcoin price?

Featured Image: DepositPhotos © stevanovicigor