It all started with a sudden spike in the price of Bitcoin when it was least expected this week. The top cryptocurrency gained more than $2.5bln to its market cap in less than an hour and added $500 to its unit price of $6800 on Tuesday July 17. Bitcoin’s dominance of total crypto market cap also rose to 44.4%. In the following three days, the mainstream media coverage of major newsmakers in the crypto scene has been largely progressive. Here is a recap of relevant views as the market awaits the next trend to follow:

Bitcoin chart courtesy of CoinMarketCap

July 17
Fundstrats’ Tom Lee tipped an end of the year resurgence with his projection of a ‘moon boon’ based on the fact that Bitcoin has been trading about 30% below its 200-day moving average. He cited this as a positive signal based on historical pattern. “To us, the message is: When Bitcoin is trading 30% below its 200-day, it’s a huge bull signal because, one, we are in the end of a correction ut also if you look forward six months you’re going to do pretty well owning Bitcoin.” Lee thinks Mastercard’s patent to protect a method that would manage “fractional reserves of blockchain currency” validates cryptocurrencies as a form of transaction. If realized, MasterCard seeks to link cryptocurrency to fiat with the new arrangement as it could speed up blockchain transactions by allowing cardholders to instantly make payments on their credit card with a fraction of their digital currency.

July 18
Before four witnesses made a case for cryptocurrency’s likely role in the future of money at the US Congresss, the head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, raised concerns that cryptocurrencies present serious risks to investors. He told members of the House Financial Services Committee in Congress that cryptocurrencies are not real currencies and have no intrinsic value. However, billionaire Marc Lasry who despite admitting not to know what is the intrinsic value of Bitcoin today, believes the top cryptocurrency is likely to grow higher in the next few years. “You are hoping that as it gets more into the mainstream, and as more markets end up allowing it to trade what s freely tradable,” Lasry says to CNBC’s Squawk Box. “To me, that’s more than a market bet. I think then you’re searching the price of it as it is easier for people to buy. I think then you’ll have something that will end up being something around 20,000 to 40,000.”

July 19
Barry Silbert of Digital Currency Group thinks the bearers ran out of energy and Bitcon to sell hence the push. Dubbed the King of crypto, Silbert notes that it is a bullish sign for Bitcoin when it is not moved by negative things said about it (the same day) by Fed’s Powell, billionaire investor Howard Marks and hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin. Silbert believes the required infrastructure is being built now to make 2019 an enormous year for institutional investors to go into cryptocurrencies. By then, he says, it’s not going to be easy to get involved but it would be socially acceptable. He adds: “I think ’19 is going to be a big year. I think the second half of this year, we’ll have to see some consolidation. But the infrastruture will be there and it’s going to be who is going to be first.