Satoshi Nakamoto 'removing the mask' could drive Bitcoin price higher

     Bitcoin prices are on the rise again, with major exchanges showing the Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) suddenly soaring by $16.50 in 15 minutes yesterday.

   The price fluctuations started at 23:15 and ended at midnight UTC, when the price reached a peak of $418. The price fluctuation range was the largest from 23:15 to 23:30.

     At press time, the price of the digital currency is once again on an upward trend, reaching its highest point in a month since November 5 – $421.83.

     Experts are unsure of the reasons for the price increase, but factors ranging from the continued impact of global Chinese yuan (CNY) market activity to speculation about the true identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto could cause investors who have just calmed down to pay attention to Bitcoin again.

Help from Satoshi Nakamoto?

     So far, market analysts are still analyzing the reasons for Bitcoin's latest price increase, as the price increase came after reports from industry technology news media Wired and Gizmodo released new evidence that Bitcoin's mysterious creator may be an Australian businessman using the pseudonym Craig Steven Wright or US forensic researcher Dave Kleiman.

    The report was first published by Wired at 21:25 UTC, and the price of Bitcoin began to rise about two hours after the news appeared online. However, some market observers believe that clarifying who is the owner of one million Bitcoins (about 1 million unspent Bitcoins in Satoshi's personal wallet) (at press time, the price of Bitcoin is about $465) may have a psychological impact on the market.

     “I think this is a Satoshi message because the 11,000 bitcoins described in the article are said to be cryptographically locked and will not be unlocked until January 2020,” Tuur Demeester, editor-in-chief of Adamant Research , told CoinDesk. “I think the market is acting on this news and betting that this story is true.”

     According to blockchain market data service Blockchain.info, there are 14.9 million bitcoins in circulation, and Satoshi Nakamoto's bitcoin holdings are estimated to account for 16% of the total global market supply.

     According to Gizmodo, Kleiman is now dead and will keep the 11,000 bitcoins until January 1, 2020, when he will return them to Wright.

     Demester added: “The trust PDF signed by Wright’s late friend David Kleiman keeps the bitcoins locked up until 2020, but Wright can use them as he pleases, including for “research on peer-to-peer systems” and “business activities that enhance the value and status of Bitcoin.”

     While the documents have yet to be verified, they give market observers some new insight into when those bitcoins could be sold on the market, providing clarity to a long-standing mystery for investors.

China Relations

    However, Wired and Gizmodo are not the only news sources influencing the price. Influential alternative finance blog Zero Hedge also published an article showing the connection between the rise in Bitcoin prices and the fall in the Chinese yuan market.

     The Zero Hedge article found a correlation between a price increase of $16.50 and a decrease of 12 pips (PIP) in the RMB exchange rate against the US dollar. The blog stated that traders are becoming more interested in Bitcoin and the RMB and are beginning to turn against the US dollar.

     BTCVIX, organizer of the Bitcoin trading group Whale Club , believes this is the main reason for the price increase.

     “Rumors of currency devaluation have been growing since the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to provide special drawing rights to the Chinese yuan,” he told CoinDesk.

     With the move, the yuan also joins the International Monetary Fund's reserve currency basket, which also includes the dollar, euro, yen and pound sterling, in a move widely hailed as a sign of the country's growing economic clout.

     Market observers also agree with this view, including George Samman, the founder of the former Bitcoin derivatives exchange, who said in a blog post on November 30 that Bitcoin's price may be adjusted.

Block size debate

     Other investors suggested that the price increase may be related to the good news from the recent expansion of Bitcoin seminars.

     At a two-day workshop in Hong Kong this week, key industry stakeholders, including developers and miners, came together to reach a consensus on how to improve the network so it can process more transactions per second and better compete with other financial processing systems.

     “I think the hard fork discussion is something that needs to be weighed by the market,” the cryptocurrency fund manager told CoinDesk.

    The price of Bitcoin began to rise after the development community actively discussed and put forward one of the two proposals to increase the block size - one is to change the way the block size is calculated in the protocol, called the Segregated Witness proposal, and the other is to increase the block size to a stable 2MB.

     But Enneking said the price increase could be the result of a combination of factors, concluding:

"So our experts say these price movements are not caused by a single factor."