A few big investment funds have reportedly sought to acquire 30-50 thousand bitcoins directly from mining companies avoiding exchange platforms.

The proposal was sent to various mining companies including BitFury. According to George Kikvadze, Deputy Head of BitFury, the miner declined the offer.

Last 24hrs couple of $10bln+ AUM Funds calling to buy 30k-50k bitcoins.. We were not selling then / not selling now — George Kikvadze (@BitfuryGeorge) December 21, 2016

It seems, investors are simply trying to circumvent market trading mechanisms to buy bitcoins a lower price. There is no confirmed information, however, what other miners have been approached with the proposal neither if they accepted or denied it.

The investors’ intention to buy large amounts of bitcoin coincides with the rapid growth of the cryptocurrency in recent weeks. The bitcoin price has increased more than twice since August, having reached $948 per unit. Over the last week only it gained nearly 18%, and over the last 24 hours, it added another 5.5%, that is, about $50.

As of now, the market capitalisation of bitcoin has exceeded $15.34 billion.

The next psychological barrier for the cryptocurrency is the $1,000 mark. According to some analysts, in the medium term bitcoin price may reach $1,200.

The highest ever bitcoin price was registered on 25 November 2013. The cryptocurrency picked at $1,138 on Mt. Gox, then the biggest exchange platform. On other cryptocurrency exchanges, bitcoin did not surpass $1,000.

Currently, the main factor pushing up bitcoin rate is the situation on the Chinese market, where basic metal commodities have lost one-fifth of the price over the last week (zinc lost 22%, iron ore trades cheaper by 20%). Investors are selling commodity-associated assets and some of them convert their savings to cryptocurrency, thus avoiding capital cross-border control significantly tightened this year by the Chinese authorities.

Elena Platonova