Bitcoin [BTC], is experiencing a massive bull run, with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Several factors have been mulled as the possible fuel to this bullish fire, from FOMO, to halving anticipation and even a sentiment swing.

Mati Greenspan, the senior market analyst at eToro has “strictly” stated that the pump is down to the top cryptocurrency’s principle of limited supply. Referencing the protocol placed in the original whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto, stating that only 21 million Bitcoins can ever be in supply.

On the other end of the spectrum, the second largest altcoin in the market, XRP, has failed to join in with the bulls, exhibiting minimal gains. Greenspan suggested that the cryptocurrency’s relative sluggish performance is down to more than half of its maximum supply of 99 billion in the hands of its parent company Ripple.

His tweet, in full, stated:

“The reason Bitcoin is surging is due to its strictly limited supply of 21 million coins that will ever be created.
XRP doesn’t have this. Max supply is 99 billion, more than half of which belongs to @Ripple.”

Many decentralized currency loyalists have lambasted the altcoin given the supply control at the hands of Ripple. Some have even labeled the cryptocurrency “centralized.”

Greenspan’s point about the Bitcoin supply pump works in accordance with the halving protocol, which dictates that the Bitcoin mining reward would be halved once 210,000 blocks are mined, or roughly every four years.

Bitcoin’s next halving is scheduled for May 2020, and, based on historical price movements, the price pumps three months to one year prior to the halving, as can be witnessed with the recent pump. The mining reward is set to decrease from 12.5 BTC per block to 6.25 BTC per block.

According to a report by crypto-analytics firm Longhash, with the mining rewards set to decline, Bitcoin mining fees will be a key financial incentive for the miners. Based on a May 10 report, the mining fees for the top cryptocurrency is 8 times that of all other virtual currencies combined.

The post Bitcoin surge caused due to limited 21 mn supply; XRP sluggish due to Ripple supply hold, claims eToro’s Greenspan appeared first on AMBCrypto.

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