Bitcoin continues its steady growth and moves from an alternative asset to a mainstream payment form for businesses.
It seems that Bitcoin isn’t going to stop its upward movement – the cryptocurrency price makes up $1,177 as of the moment of writing, stably keeping close to $1,200 barrier. As a reminder, the previous all-time high in November 2013, at the height of Bitcoin-mania, was around $1,165.
Right after that incredible price boost, Mt. Gox, one of the earliest and biggest Bitcoin exchanges, declared its bankruptcy after it had lost hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin owned by its users. The case resulted in Bitcoin price having dropped almost in half.
Next years demonstrated constant fluctuations in the cryptocurrency price that rose and dropped in accordance with economic situation or hacked exchanges.
Two years ago, when Bitcoin seemed to stop at $250 level, some experts expressed confidence that it would never recover and come close to $1,000 again. But we observed a steady growth during the last year with price making up approximately $425 at the beginning of the year, $584 six months ago, $736 three months ago and $885 one month ago.
Experts mention different factors as possible reasons for price boost.
In general, Bitcoin price is tied to the stock market that has been skyrocketing since the election of President Trump. Just like Bitcoin, the NASDAQ, Dow, Russell and S&P 500 have all set all-time highs just in the last week. It is rather interesting because cryptocurrencies are used to attracting investors in tough market times when they strive to search for other ways to invest. There is a theory that the rally can mean that Bitcoin is moving from an alternative asset into a mainstream payment form for businesses. As a result, its price tends to follow the stock market more closely.
Many share the opinion that bitcoin price growth is connected with the speculations over the possible approval of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF by the Securities and Exchange Commission. If approved, it will be the first Bitcoin ETF in a U.S market and average investors will be able to take a stake in the digital currency much easier.
TechCrunch talks about one more “anecdotal” option of Bitcoin upward movement. Last week, Mike Mulvaney was confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The direct connection with Bitcoin is that Mike advocates for the cryptocurrency. He was the first member of Congress to accept Bitcoin donations, and helped launch the “Blockchain Caucus” to advance policy surrounding cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin might have become less volatile as it used to be. However, it is still susceptible to dramatic spikes in both directions.
next