Bitcoin has been in an upward rally throughout the start of 2020 and finally hit $10,000 on February 9. 2019 hasn’t been much of a good year as the entire market bled throughout the year. According to data from Coinbase exchange, shortly after 3:00 a.m. UTC, BTC/USD moved to $10,000 on a high volume spike, later settling down at $9,975.

The move followed the Bitcoin futures market which hit the 10k level on February 6. Bitcoin futures continue to be a key metric and mainline to institutional interest in Bitcoin.

According to recent reports, Bitcoin’s strong price action has upgraded its ranking on Weiss, the popular cryptocurrency rating service to A-, which signifies the “Excellent” grade. According to the Weiss rating definitions, A is the indication for a strong buy signal with the safety rating stating that the asset has “High probability of stability even in a severely adverse environment, such as a depression or debt crisis.”

Prior to this, Bitcoin was kept aside XRP and EOS as cryptocurrencies that have the best combination of adoption and technology. Now, Bitcoin has been upgraded and it has a grade higher than both those assets, with XRP standing at B- and EOS at C after a downgrade for centralization.

Weiss Ratings made the announcement on twitter on February 7 stating:

“The Weiss Crypto Rating for #BTC is now A- (excellent), thanks to improving fundamentals and positive price action ahead of Bitcoin’s next halving.”

Weiss bullish about halving

Like multiple other rating services and crypto analysts, Weiss is also bullish about the upcoming BTC halving. Prior to the last Bitcoin halving event in late November 2012, BTC/USD was trading at $12. Four years later, the supply halved to the current rate of 12.5 BTC per block, and the price was $652.

As Bitcoin gained over 30% in January alone to hit $9,450, higher expectations are at play about the May 2020 halving. About the halving event, Weiss had said:

Here’s how #Bitcoin halvings have impacted the market. So, does the Bitcoin halving help drive prices higher? Absolutely. The only question now is how high will #BTC go this time around? pic.twitter.com/YnSp4Y8igO — Weiss Crypto Ratings (@WeissCrypto) February 1, 2020

It’s not just Weiss, the Winklevoss Twins are also of the belief that the price rise is rarely ever priced in before it happens. According to an earlier report by The Daily Chain, during a talk at the Crypto Finance Conference in St Moritz, the twins remarked that Bitcoin’s upcoming halving in May “will be big for Bitcoin.”

Bitcoin movement gaining momentum

If the recent news is anything to go by, it is safe to point out that crypto is already in the broader mainstream. In 2018, the question ‘What Is Bitcoin?’ had topped Google’s 2018 What Asked Trending List. Since then, the number of ‘bitcoin’ searches has been on the rise.

The halving has also started to spark some interest among enthusiasts. Google searches for ‘Bitcoin halving’ has been steadily growing throughout 2019, and show that mainstream and retail interest in the event is still high.

As of now, the total cryptocurrency market cap stands at $283.9 billion, with Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 63.5%. Some major altcoins have seen positive price action following Bitcoin’s rally, with Ether (ETH) rising 2.27% crossing $225, EOS moving up 8.27% and Bitcoin SV (BSV) hitting $365.14 from a 24.24% gain.