Breaking: Bitcoin smashes through $50,000
Bitcoin’s relentless drive into fresh all-time-high territory has taken it briefly above the significant $50,000 line.
The original cryptocurrency has been in overdrive during the last few months after languidly drifting between $8,000 and $15,000 throughout much of 2020.
In its 12-year history, Bitcoin (BTC) has bumped along a sub $20,000 path with few hints of the prospect of reaching a value in excess of $50,000.
In 2017 – often referred to as BTC’s boom year – the world’s most dominant cryptocurrency gradually crept up to touch $20,000 before spending the next year struggling to break seemingly impenetrable ceilings of $4,000 and $6,000.
The 2017 high was later attributed to market manipulation, and the potentially nefarious actions of a single super-wealthy trader who was able to manage the market to their own financial ends.
The trust and reputation of cryptocurrencies in general suffered in the public’s eye, leading to long spells of low prices and a slump of faith in digital assets.
Worldwide investors
If anything, cryptocurrency has done well out of a global pandemic which has seen investors worldwide looking for alternatives to flailing economies. As a result, much attention has turned to digital assets.
That shift became palpable by November last year when Bitcoin began flirting with the all-time high set in 2017.
There then followed a plethora of big names using their huge social media influence to hint at their faith in crypto – Elon Musk most notably – driving prices skywards.
Since January, Bitcoin has steadily punched through ceiling after ceiling. Symbolic lines have been successively and successfully crossed – $20k, $25k and $30 all fell before the momentous barrier of $40,000 was achieved, much to the surprise of many veterans of the cryptocurrency industry.
The fact that, only minutes ago, the huge psychological barrier of $50,000 was crossed with conviction will be a moment that will shake the financial world to the core and could potentially now shape the future of money as we know it.
To give perspective and context to the significance of this milestone, the $10,000 mark has always been regarded as the greatest psychological barrier in Bitcoin’s 12-year lifespan. The fact that, today, it is now soaring five times higher than that hurdle is an achievement many may have prophesised, but few dared to dream could be a reality.
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