Cryptocurrency markets are always evolving in interesting directions. Whereas most people are keeping an eye on Bitcoin or Ethereum, the IOTA price is surging to record highs on a regular basis as well. Right now, one MIOTA is valued at US$2.40, which is a massive gain from a month ago. No one knows for sure how high the IOTA price can go, but there are plenty of concerns regarding this being a pump-and-dump.
IOTA Price Surge is Anything but Organic
Pump-and-dump cycles are nothing new in cryptocurrency. In fact, such “opportunities” arise pretty much every week, mainly affecting smaller altcoins. In recent weeks, however, we have seen some of the bigger altcoins undergo these hype cycles as well. It appears the IOTA price is being pushed up by speculators, as there is no real reason to warrant such an increase at this point.
That is not to say IOTA doesn’t have interesting technology under the hood. Its DAG, for example, may very well revolutionize cryptocurrency as we know it today. However, none of that should have a massive impact on the IOTA price until actual developments become more apparent. All cryptocurrencies are thriving thanks to speculation first and foremost. In the case of IOTA, however, that speculation has massively inflated the IOTA price beyond what it should really be at this point. Then again, logic is hard to come by in this industry.
One month ago, the IOTA price was hovering around the US$0.37 level. Anyone who bought in at that point and is still holding has a near 600% return on his or her investment. Profit-taking will eventually set in for IOTA, which may send the price down again in short order. The past week has seen very little in the way of market resistance, culminating in a 50% price pump over the past 24 hours. How all this will play out remains to be seen.
One thing working in favor of IOTA is its massive trading volume. With over US$768 million worth of IOTA changing hands in the past 24 hours, there is still room for future growth. In fact, it is not unlikely we will see the IOTA price rise to US$3 or even higher in the coming days. Considering that there are over 2.77 billion tokens in circulation, such an IOTA price gain would push its market capitalization well above US$10 billion.
The vast majority of IOTA trades in the past 24 hours originated from Bitfinex. That exchange’s IOTA markets combined represent 60% of all trades, which is rather scary considering how many people are concerned over Bitfinex’s solvency and trading behavior. Then again, those people who make good money from this pump and are able to cash out will not care all that much about said concerns.
No one knows whether or not the IOTA price will continue to soar or eventually plummet to the ground. For now, all charts indicate there are more gains on the horizon, as long as people are willing to pay the price for them. At some point, the market will realize IOTA is way overpriced, and things could get very nasty from that point forward. Then again, the project has a lot of potential, and the developers may surprise us all in the end. It’s an interesting market to keep an eye on; that much is evident.
