Bitcoin hits 17 months high by Facebook

Economy 17:16 26.06.2019

The price of bitcoin has soared to its highest level in a year and a half, as a breathless rally in the digital asset evokes memories of the cryptocurrency’s last boom-and-bust cycle. In Asian trading hours on Wednesday, bitcoin traded on the Bitstamp exchange rose as much as 10 per cent to as high as $12,935.58, putting the digital asset on track for its biggest one-day jump in more than a month. Bitcoin’s price later pulled back to less than $12,600 as European traders came online.

In Asian trading hours on Wednesday, bitcoin traded on the Bitstamp exchange rose as much as 10 per cent to as high as $12,935.58, putting the digital asset on track for its biggest one-day jump in more than a month. Bitcoin’s price later pulled back to less than $12,600 as European traders came online.

Analysts say the bout of enthusiasm for virtual currencies is being stoked by a confluence of factors.

Among the most significant is Facebook’s move into the world of crypto, launching its own currency called Libra in an attack by Big Tech on the payments industry. Analysts are optimistic that Libra could help cryptocurrencies generally gain more mainstream acceptance, both as means of payment and as a store of wealth.

“Adoption is obviously key for this space so the Facebook news is . . . being viewed positively,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda. Mr Erlam added that bitcoin has struggled for legitimacy among traders since the last crypto bubble burst at the end of 2017, prompting the bitcoin price to plunge about 80 per cent from its peak of more than $19,000.