The SegWit2X fork planned for mid-November has resulted in a continued focus on Bitcoin with investors pouring money into the world’s most dominant cryptocurrency.

Most of the increase in demand has come from Japan and South Korea. Korea’s offline exchanges of Bithumb and Coinone have become very popular recently, with common people without technical skills to operate with cryptocurrencies seeking for person-to-person assistance, pouring in millions upon millions of dollars of fresh money into the crypto marketplace. With the significantly increased demand, it was only a matter of time when the psychological level of $7,000 would be breached. As reported by news sites, Koreans are selling their stock holdings and equity in companies to invest in bitcoin and altcoins.

In Japan, bitcoin has already been adopted as a mean of payment almost equal to the Japanese yen (JPY).

The US market accepted the news of bitcoin futures by CME, the world's largest derivatives exchange, with open hands (and wallets).

If this trend of good news and new money coming into the crypto marketplace continues, it should not come as a surprise to see bitcoin’s price tag at $10,000 by year’s end, a “mere” 35% increase.