Bitcoin has gone and done it again – achieving a new record high on Sunday before pulling its price back.
The price of bitcoin hit $6,306 on Sunday evening, according to Bitcoin Price Index (BPI). This new record surpasses its previous high of $6,150, recorded earlier this month.
As of Monday morning, bitcoin price has pulled back slightly and is trading at $6,131; however, its market cap remains over the $100 billion value, at $102.1 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. The combined market is worth just shy of $180 billion.
Since the beginning of 2017, the value of bitcoin has increased six-fold, having climbed from $1,000 at the start of January. Against the U.S. dollar, it has risen by over 500 percent. Despite a slight drop in value, investors appear unconcerned about bitcoin’s recent fork, leading to the creation of a new cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Gold. This is the second split to bitcoin this year. A fork in August led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash, which currently ranks fourth with a market value of $7.7 billion.
Even though Bitcoin Cash has been around for a relatively short period of time it hasn’t been hugely disruptive. This, in turn, has led many to believe that Bitcoin will continue to dominate the market. Bitcoin Gold has yet to establish itself among the ranks with a market value; however, investors remain confident in bitcoin as they hold on to their coins.
This is certainly panning out to be an interesting year for the crypto market. Several critics have already come out claiming that bitcoin will eventually burst its bubble. Most notable of all is Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, who took a stab at bitcoin when he called it ‘a fraud’ last month. This was then followed up by him proclaiming that the digital currency was ‘worth nothing.’
Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal is another individual who has criticised bitcoin. According to CNBC, he believes ‘it’s going to implode one day.’ Whereas, billionaire investor Warren Buffett has described bitcoin as a ‘real bubble.’
Yet, while critics will remain regarding the digital market, so does optimism for it too, with many predicting that its value will rise even higher.
According to Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman, he believes the cryptocurrency could rise as high as $7,000 before the year’s out. Initially investing in bitcoin when it was trading at $12, the 18-year-old high school dropout has made a handsome profit thanks to savvy investments with the cryptocurrency.
Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, is another individual who thinks bitcoin price will go up. So much so, that in the next five years he thinks it will reach $25,000. Of course, only time will tell how much further the currency will rise to. Whether it reaches astronomical heights remains to be seen. For now, though, investors are enjoying this surge in value, which is heading in the right direction.
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