The price of bitcoin is once again surging at the start of the week, amid a fresh wave of positive news in the crypto space.
The cryptocurrency reached above $57,000 on Monday to hit a fresh five-month high, taking its total gains for October to 32 per cent. It briefly dipped below $57,000 on Tuesday morning before continuing on its rally.
Other leading cryptocurrencies are yet to mirror bitcoin’s fortunes, with Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada) and dogecoin all remaining relatively steady over the last week.
Bitcoin’s gains have pushed the overall crypto market cap above $2.3 trillion, overtaking the value of tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Microsoft. Only Apple is worth more than the cryptocurrency market, though only by less than $50 billion.
The recent surge has reinforced the beliefs of some crypto analysts, who predicted earlier this year that new record highs would be seen before the end of 2021.
We’ll have all the latest news, analysis and expert price predictions right here.
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Mystery whale buys $1.6 billion of bitcoin
07:58 , Anthony Cuthbertson
A mysterious investor, or group of investors, has placed an order to buy $1.6 billion worth of bitcoin on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Such a large volume trade has inevitably contributed to bitcoin’s price surge, pushing it above $57,000 for the first time since May.
Ki Young, a crypto analyst and CEO of on-chain data firm CryptoQuant, speculated that traders may be taking on large positions ahead of a rumoured approval by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of a futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This kind of announcement would be huge for bitcoin, and would almost certainly lead to fresh new price highs.
Bitcoin price closing in on ATH as crypto market closes in on Apple
07:51 , Anthony Cuthbertson
Bitcoin has risen by nearly a third in value since the start of the month, with the price gains pushing the overall crypto market cap above the value of tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet (Google) and Microsoft.
The cryptocurrency market is currently worth $2.32 trillion, meaning only Apple is worth more at $2.36 trillion.
The market value of bitcoin alone is more than $1 trillion, meaning one more price rally could push it above silver. Some analysts and investors, such as MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, believe the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency will one day “flip” gold, due to its inbuilt scarcity. That would put the price of a single bitcoin at around half a million dollars.
Hello and welcome…
07:35 , Anthony Cuthbertson
to The Independent’s live coverage of the crypto market. With another bull run seemingly underway, we’ll have all the latest news, updates and analysis throughout the week for bitcoin, Ethereum (ether) and other leading cryptocurrencies.
We’ll also be bringing you expert price predictions, as well as seeking to answer the question of whether we really are set to see a new all-time high for bitcoin within the next 10 weeks. It’s currently less than $7,000 away from hitting a new record, with its notorious volatility meaning such a jump could be achieved in just a few hours – though such a significant price move could also go the other way.
