Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency surges by over five percent
Flagship cryptocurrency bitcoin is continuing its remarkable rally by today topping $34,000 for the first time ever. The past twelve months alone have witnessed the cryptocurrency’s value rise by 300 percent. Bitcoin was valued at $33,823 (£24,737) at 6.44am GMT on Sunday, January 3, according to CoinDesk.com data – only two weeks after passing the $20,000 (£14,627) mark.
BTC’s rehabilitation has been widely-credited to investors increasingly betting on it becoming a mainstream payment method.
The momentum behind bitcoin in recent weeks will only excite investors of the possibility of it hitting $50,000 or perhaps even the $100,000 mark this year
Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno
Bitcoin is winning growing support as a form of payment online, with PayPal among the most recent adopters of digital currencies.
And some analysts also suggest BTC could also benefit from the US dollar falling further, following significant stimulus from the US Federal Reserve.
Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of cryptocurrency company Luno, believes the once-volatile bitcoin is showing concrete signs of increased stability.
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He told Express.co.uk: “At $20,000, we asked ourselves: what next?
“Many of us predicted a further rise for bitcoin in 2021, but few expected to see it smash its all time high yet again, just two days into the new year.
“The momentum behind bitcoin in recent weeks will only excite investors of the possibility of it hitting $50,000 or perhaps even the $100,000 mark this year, which in-turn will sway those who’ve been sitting on the fence so far.
“More importantly, the consistent nature of these price increases will go some way to allay the fears of volatility that have traditionally been used as a criticism against bitcoin for so long.”
This recent undramatic positive price momentum has been interpreted as a change from a time when investors were reportedly attracted by the lure of quick profits.
Industry insiders are now also increasingly viewing BTC as a safe-haven store of value during the coronavirus pandemic.
This is similar to gold, an asset traditionally viewed as particularly robust during periods of market volatility.
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Gold prices ended 2020 with their strongest annual gain in a decade.
However, trading experts still exhibit caution. Many investors lost a lot of money when BTC climbed to approximately $20,000 in 2017 before quickly crashing 80 percent.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey recently warned he was “very nervous” with the public using bitcoin to make payments.
The economist added those who invest in the cryptocurrency should be prepared to “lose all their money”.
Today’s record value coincides with bitcoin celebrating its 12th birthday.
This marks the anniversary of the mining of the cryptocurrency’s genesis block.
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