Its boom started at the end of October with the launch of a service for buying and selling cryptocurrency but also payment in cryptocurrency by Paypal. Investment funds are increasingly interested in it.
The World with AFP
Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency, saw its price exceed $ 30,000 on Saturday, January 2, for the first time in its history. At around 2 p.m. PST, bitcoin was worth exactly $ 31,502.77, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg agency.
It had crossed the $ 20,000 threshold for the first time on the 16th. last December and had reached new records in recent days by approaching the $ 30,000 mark.
“The appetite for risk” which is reflected in the purchases of this cryptocurrency “remains indomitable” Germany-based independent analyst Timo Emden, director of Emden Research, said in a note. For him, “in view of the dynamics of the course, more historical highs could follow”.
Dizzying variations
The recent surge started at the end of October with the launch of a cryptocurrency purchase and sale service, but also cryptocurrency payment by the online payments giant Paypal. In addition to this service intended for individuals, investment funds are increasingly interested in this asset in sudden movements in value, although they have long been wary of it.
“Many private investors do not yet dare to approach and remain on the sidelines”, recalls Timo Enden. However, analysts at the US bank JPMorgan recently estimated that “the use of bitcoin by traditional investors is only just beginning”: they compare digital and decentralized currency to gold. Other prominent Wall Street bank analysts, such as Citi, have started to follow the course of cryptocurrency.
For many followers of bitcoin, bitcoin draws its appeal from its decentralization: created by a network itself invented by anonymous people in 2008, so it does not depend on any institution.
Not being backed by any asset or the economy of any country, the price of bitcoin has however observed dizzying variations. So in 2017, it started the year at less than $ 1,000, then saw its price soar over the months before a real surge between mid-November and mid-December, when prices had quadrupled in less than a month. After peaking near $ 20,000 on December 18, 2017, prices then melted throughout 2018, ending that year at just over $ 3,000.