Bitcoin: third record in a week, the cryptocurrency now climbs to more than $72,000
[ad_1]
Nothing stops him. Bitcoin hit a record high of more than $72,000 on Monday, as demand for the cryptocurrency surged thanks to prospects of lower interest rates in the United States in the coming months. The price of the cryptocurrency star rose to $72,385 early this afternoon in London. Digital currency had already touched several records last weekcrushing that of November 2021 at $68,991.
The new high on Monday comes “against a backdrop of a weakening US dollar following a mixed set of US employment data on Friday,” notes James Harte, analyst at Tickmill. The unemployment rate in the United States thus climbed in February to 3.9%, its highest level since January 2022. The strengthening of expectations of a reduction in American rates weakens the greenback as well as the yields of American Treasury bills, competing assets, which makes bitcoin more attractive in comparison for investors, notes Neil Wilson, analyst at Finalto.
And if the US economic outlook remains generally favorable, it is also possible that the market “is concerned about the way debt continues to accumulate, particularly in the United States”, which pushes it to turn to alternative assets such as gold – which reached an all-time high on Friday, at $2,195 – or bitcoin, estimates Russ Mold of AJ Bell, interviewed by AFP. The price of bitcoin has jumped by almost 70% since the start of the year, a spectacular rise after the collapse of prices in the wake of the sinking of several giants of the sector at the end of 2022.
Authorization of new financial products
Main cryptocurrency by capitalization, bitcoin had seen its value soar to new historical records in recent days, driven by the authorization in the United States last January of the sale of a new type of investment product, an index fund (ETF) which tracks the price of bitcoin. On Monday, the watchdog of the British markets, the FCA, gave the green light to the listing of securities backed by cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom, but only for “professional investors”.
For Neil Wilson of Finalto, the arrival of ETFs on the market in the United States remains the “catalyst” of the rise in the price of bitcoin because it “means that investors can access it easily”. As for the recent decision in the United Kingdom, it “suggests that cryptocurrency is becoming more widespread, and not just bitcoin – the oldest of them – but also other established cryptocurrencies”, believes Kathleen Brooks, analyst at XTB , who responded to AFP.
The market is also anticipating “halving”, a technical phenomenon which consists of halving the reward granted to bitcoin “miners” – those who contribute to the creation of the blockchain. blocks by validating transactions. The “halving” takes place approximately every four years. The next one should take place in April. This event should “reduce the supply” of bitcoins available for purchase, which explains why the value of bitcoins is reinforced, indicates Fiona Cincotta, of City Index, questioned by AFP.
[ad_2]
Source link
