The cryptocurrency’s price has jumped five percent to hit a record of $62,741,
This year has seen Bitcoin post massive gains compared to 2020, and has spiked by more than 1,000 percent over the past 12 months.
Bitcoin has more than doubled in price already this year with it quickly being accepted as an investment and means of payment, and as investors seek high-yielding assets amid low interest rates.
Several other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum and dogecoin, have experienced huge price increases over recent months and are edging closer to their all-time highs.
The huge spike in Bitcoin’s price comes a day ahead of Coinbase’s initial public offering (IPO).
Simon Peters, a market analyst at eToro, told The Independent: “Bitcoin’s price has surged once again thanks to a number of factors, including new demand from institutional investors and wealth managers offering crypto asset exposure to clients.
“Meanwhile a decline in on-exchange reserves is reducing supply as more investors move the currency to their own wallets.”
Bitcoin’s price has surged to an all-time high of $62,000 (Image: GETTY)
Bitcoin’s price has surged significantly over the past 24 hours (Image: COINDESK)
Nick Jones, CEO and co-founder at cryptocurrency wallet Zumo, told Bloomberg: “It’s the evolution of an industry that used to sit on the periphery.
“It really blurs the lines between crypto and more traditional financial institutions.”
James Butterfill of digital asset manager CoinShares, said: “When bitcoin markets create new highs the price often range-trades and we witness a round of profit-taking.
“During this most recent period have witnessed a similar profit-taking round, which now looks to have run its course.”
Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed over the past three months (Image: COINDESK)
Global investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have both announced plans to offer their clients access to cryptocurrency investments.
Earlier this year Tesla, owned by Elon Musk, revealed a $1.5billion investment in Bitcoin and recently began accepting it as payment for the firm’s electric cars.
Major global firms including Mastercard and BNY Mellon are also among several to have recently embraced or invested in cryptocurrencies.
Just under a week ago, Bitcoin’s price had crashed by almost five percent over a 24-hour period, sparking fears the cryptocurrency’s rise in 2021 had hit a huge stumbling block.
Bitcoin’s value has spiked over recent months (Image: GETTY)
Bitcoin’s price has helped drive the cryptocurrency market forward (Image: GETTY)
Bitcoin’s value dropped to as low as $56,300 last Wednesday, according to trading website CoinDesk.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency had hit a record of $60,700 on March 13 and had been as high as $59,000 at 1.29pm last Tuesday.
Wild fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price come with the boss of one of the world’s largest investment banks providing a huge boost to the future of the cryptocurrency.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon had forecast a major transformation in how the US government regulates Bitcoin and other digital assets over the coming year.
He told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’ last week: “I think there’ll be a big evolution as to how this evolves in the coming years.
“I’m not going to speculate on where the rules will go for regulated financial institutions, but we’re going to continue to find ways to serve our clients as we move forward.”
Mr Solomon said Goldman Sachs is proactively thinking about the digitalisation of money.
He added: “There are significant regulatory restrictions around us and us acting as a principle around cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
“But we can help clients facilitate custody positions in digital assets.”
Source: Express
