Bitcoin Just Hit A Fresh 2019 High–Here’s Why
Story by: Billy Bambrough
Bitcoin, back in the limelight after social media giant Facebook this week announced it’s creating its own cryptocurrency and payments network, has hit a fresh year-to-date high and is edging closer to the psychological $10,000 per bitcoin mark.
The bitcoin price recorded a high of $9,600 per bitcoin on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, up almost 5% over the last 24 hour trading period and a staggering 160% since the beginning of 2019.
The bitcoin price has been climbing steadily since early April, breaking out of a long-running bear market that wiped away over 80% of the bitcoin value.
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The latest bitcoin rally has been put down to a number of different factors, with surging media and mainstream interest in bitcoin as a result of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency announcement the most recent.
Google Trends data shows searches for bitcoin hit 12-month highs earlier in May as speculation around Facebook’s plans for a potential bitcoin rival reached fever-pitch.
Meanwhile, closely-watched plans for institutional bitcoin and crypto adoption from the likes of the New York Stock Exchange-owner backed bitcoin and cryptocurrency platform Bakkt, and Fidelity Investments, one of the largest asset managers in the world, poised to begin trading bitcoin have eased trader and investor fears bitcoin could be on the way out after a dire 2018.
