Bitcoin price hits all-time high amid crypto market frenzy
Price surge comes as cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase prepares to float
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Your support makes all the difference.The price of bitcoin reached above $62,000 (£45,100) on Tuesday for the first time ever, recording a new all-time high.
The cryptocurrency has risen in value by more than 1,000 per cent in a year.
At around 7pm, bitcoin was trading at around $63,375, according to CoinMarketCap’s price index.
Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum (ether) and dogecoin, have also seen huge price surges in recent months and are currently trading close to their record highs.
“Bitcoin’s price has surged once again thanks to a number of factors, including new demand from institutional investors and wealth managers offering cryptoasset exposure to clients,” Simon Peters, a market analyst at eToro, told The Independent.
“Meanwhile a decline in on-exchange reserves is reducing supply as more investors move the currency to their own wallets.”
The new record high comes as one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase, prepares to go public.
Coinbase was reportedly used by Tesla in its recent acquisition of $1.5bn worth of bitcoin, as well as major institutional investors who have entered the space over the past year.
It will be the first time that a company specialising in cryptocurrencies has launched an initial public offering, with some stock-market analysts predicting a valuation in the region of $100bn.
The overall market capitalisation of all cryptocurrencies combined is currently north of $2 trillion, largely thanks to bitcoin hitting a new all-time price high.
“At present, bitcoin’s market capitalisation is $1,170,568,713,341, representing 54.6 per cent of the global crypto market cap,” said Nick Spanos, co-founder of smart contract platform Zap.org.
“The upcoming public debut of Coinbase is particularly exciting to both the mainstream market investors, as well as crypto market enthusiasts. While the former will have a more direct opportunity to buy the shares of a company that plays a central role in bitcoin and the crypto space, the latter are excited as Coinbase will open the gates for more conservative investors to embrace the coin, and perhaps other digital assets.”
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