Bitcoin price boom: Cryptocurrency surges 15% in 24 hours after breaking record

Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency surges by over five percent

The price of Bitcoin has jumped more than 15 percent since yesterday’s milestone announcement to reach a new record high of $22,700, according to financial trading website Coin Desk. Bitcoin’s latest price jump has taken gains in the world’s highest-profile cryptocurrency past 220 percent already this year. The latest rally has been buoyed from larger investors attracted to its potential for quick gains and perceived inflation-hedging qualities.

Smaller coin Ethereum, which often moves in tandem with Bitcoin, was also trading 12 percent higher at over $663.

Bitcoin’s price boom in 2020 has also been driven by increasing expectations it will become a mainstream payment method, with popular payment platform PayPal recently opening its network to cryptocurrencies.

The latest rally will raise hopes the cryptocurrency – which had plummeted by 25 percent in March at the start of the coronavirus pandemic – is firmly on course towards breaking through the $30,000 barrier.

Cryptocurrencies began to emerge over a decade ago but quickly attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons as they quickly became associated with crime, trading glitches, hacks and wild price swings, but over the last few years have started attracting more mainstream interest.

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Bitcoin is still less regulated than most traditional assets, but investors are now relaxing fears over cryptocurrencies as improved market infrastructure make crypto markets more accessible.

Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note: “There will be a search for alternative currencies due to constant fiat money debasement.

“It does feel that Bitcoin will continue to be in high demand.”

Cryptocurrency experts have hailed the recent price surge and have predicted it could act as a launchpad for Bitcoin’s value to surge even further.

Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner of cryptocurrency lender Nexo, said: “We have a new line in the sand and the focus shifts to the next round number of $30,000.”

“The is the start of a new chapter for Bitcoin.

“It’s a narrative the media and retail crowd can properly latch onto because they’ve been noticeably absent from this rally.”

Ayush Ansal, CEO of the hedge fund, Crimson Black Capital, said: “After being in a wasteland since the infamous bull run of late 2017, crypto, and Bitcoin in particular, are back.

“Bitcoin has been threatening the symbolic $20,000 barrier for some time and finally it has broken through.

“Public interest in cryptocurrencies will be reignited over the Christmas period, as people start to believe in Bitcoin all over again.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has almost certainly contributed to the rebound in Bitcoin. It has changed the order of things and that resonates with many investors right now.

“The resurgence of Bitcoin will once again have Central Banks on red alert.

“If they become truly mainstream, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies represent an existential threat to the entire banking system.”

Last week, fund manager Ruffer Investment Management moved around $675 million of its clients’ money into Bitcoin, according to a report from Reuters.

MicroStrategy, which provides business intelligence, mobile software, and cloud-based services, has already bought half-a-billion dollars worth of Bitcoin so far this year.

The firm also recently raised a further $650million via a bond sale to buy more Bitcoin.

But other cryptocurrency experts remain more cautious around Bitcoin, warning its price has a history of reaching new highs only to quickly plummet by significant depths.

Financial author and trading veteran Glen Goodman told Forbes: “History has a warning for people buying at the new all-time-high.

“While I’m optimistic about the long-term prospects for Bitcoin, four years ago we had a very similar situation with bitcoin breaking new ground, but just two weeks later its price plummeted by more than a third.

“History doesn’t always repeat itself, of course, but the lesson is to be on your guard.

“The market often teaches harsh lessons in humility to those who risk too much on what they’re told is a sure thing.

“Some of the biggest investors in the world have been singing Bitcoin’s praises in recent weeks.

“This suggests they already own Bitcoin and are hoping to encourage more people to buy and boost the price upwards.

“Sometimes Wall Street ‘whales’ do this in order to sell their Bitcoins to the little guys at higher prices.”

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