Bitcoin crosses $50,000 mark, records two-year high

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
13 Feb 2024 08:57

The cryptocurrency extends its February gains with an 18% markup on value in just 7 days.

A person holding a visual representation of the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin on February 6, 2018. (AFP)

Bitcoin continued its staggering upward climb, hitting a two-year high on Monday, after reaching $50,280 during the day marking a 4.5% increase, before settling at $50,200 at almost 4:00 pm.

Throughout the past 7 days, the cryptocurrency jumped 18% in value, scoring its highest value since December 2021.

At the beginning of 2023, Bitcoin's trading figure was at $16,500, before soaring 160% throughout the rest of the year to over $44,000 by December.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 11, allowing financial institutions and investors to trade the virtual blockchain token without owning it.

Ethereum also experienced a 5.6% increase, reaching $2,640 after the provision, whereas certain other alternative cryptocurrencies witnessed a surge in value of up to 17%.

$1.4 trillion erased in 2022

In November 2021, Bitcoin hit a record high of almost $69,000, but nearly $1.4 trillion was erased from the market in 2022 due to sector bankruptcies which came after the collapse of FTX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange at the time. But the latest upward price momentum pushed Bitcoin's market capitalization towards the $1 trillion threshold, a milestone that hadn't been achieved since.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, the combined value of the cryptocurrency market increased by 3.85% to reach $1.87 trillion, with Bitcoin's dominance, representing its share of the crypto market, standing at 52.6%.

A report by CNBC last December, citing industry analysts, said that cryptocurrency top-dog Bitcoin is anticipated to keep surging in 2024, to possibly all-time highs of over $100,000 per token.