Bitcoin has suddenly rocketed higher, climbing almost 5% over the last 24 hours to highs of $53,750 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange.
The latest bitcoin price rise, coming just days after the cryptocurrency broke through the closely-watched $50,000 level, means the combined value of the 18.6 million bitcoin tokens in circulation are now worth over $1 trillion—double the $500 billion it started 2021.
The bitcoin price has been climbing fast over recent months, soaring past its previous all-time … [+]
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The bitcoin price has climbed at a blistering rate over recent months, accelerating after breaking through is late 2017 all-time high of around $20,000 in December.
Bitcoin’s surge has been largely put down to Wall Street banks and other big investors warming to the cryptocurrency but has been bolstered by interest from the likes of billionaire Elon Musk, whose electric car company Tesla this month announced it had added bitcoin to its balance sheet.
“Bitcoin’s price continues its run higher as expected, driven by extraordinary interest from institutions, corporate treasuries, and retail investors,” trader and economist Alex Krüger says via Telegram, adding recent institutional interest in bitcoin “cannot be overstated.”
“The only reason for concern at present is the excessive leverage built into the system. Excessive leverage can cause short-term corrections, but can’t change a healthy trend.”
The bitcoin price has added almost 500% over the last 12 months and shows little sign of slowing.
Coinbase
Bitcoin breaking through the $1 trillion-asset barrier has been cheered by the bitcoin community, with many predicting the bitcoin price will continue to climb.
“$1 trillion market cap is important in as much as it will trigger many asset managers to take a closer look, but with bitcoin’s total addressable market in the $200 trillion to $400 trillion range it’s still just a drop in the bucket,” Cory Klippsten, the chief executive of bitcoin-buying app Swan Bitcoin, says via Telegram.
However, the bitcoin rally, that’s seen its price add 500% since this time last year, has been called “unsustainable” by JPMorgan analysts, who have warned unless bitcoin’s price swings subside “quickly from here” the price could crash.
Much of the recent money flowing into bitcoin is coming from “speculative investors seeking to front run other more real-money institutional investors,” according to a JPMorgan strategy note reported by Business Insider.
