Bitcoin has hit something new all the time with $ 20,000 (£ 14,800)
The volatile exchange rate has gained more than 170% this year amidst a stock market turmoil.
On Wednesday it has jumped 4.5% to $ 20,440 driven by demand from large investors who love its fast-paced profit margins.
It is expected that it will gain widespread popularity as a means of payment from the likes of Starbucks and Microsoft.
But it has been a difficult journey for investors, with cryptocurrency surpassing $ 19,000 in November before falling sharply.
The previous meeting in 2017 saw it approaching a $ 20,000 break. But it is also much lower and has dropped below $ 3,300 previously.
‘You’re too scared’
Bitcoin is widely marketed as real currencies such as the pound and the American dollar. But it also has growing support as a PayPal payment method among the latest recipients of digital currencies.
However, Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey has warned of its use as a means of payment.
“I have to be honest, it’s hard to see that it has what we often call intrinsic value,” Mr Bailey said in October. “There can be an external value in the sense that people want it.” He said he was “very worried” about people using Bitcoin for payments which showed that investors should realize that its price was changing dramatically
Rollercoaster Ride
While the price of Bitcoin has seen a significant increase this year, it has seen many peaks and specifics since it was created in 2009.
Asked about the potential impact, he said: “That’s the kind of money that creates money because there are other players who can try to use it and no government or international organization can somehow try to keep the price down.”
Lucas Huang on the Tokenlon exchange platform said it was “surprising” that Bitcoin had hit such a high point, saying “it could be a sign that institutional buyers are playing big on this bull”.
How Bitcoin works
How to divide Bitcoin properly is a matter of controversy. Is it a currency, a store value, a payment network or an asset class?
Fortunately, it is easy to define what Bitcoin really is. Software. Don’t be fooled by the stock photos of shiny coins with modified Thai baht symbols. Bitcoin is just a digital thing, a set of protocols and processes.
And it is very successful in hundreds of attempts to make real money through cryptography, the science of making and breaking codes. Bitcoin has encouraged hundreds of players, but remains the largest cryptocurrency in market currencies, a difference it has held throughout its ten-year history and beyond.
(General note: according to the Bitcoin Foundation, the word “Bitcoin” is capitalized when referring to digital currency as an entity, and is rendered “bitcoin” when referring to the value of money or units itself. Bitcoin is also abbreviated as “BTC.” , we will switch between these uses.)
