Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin Crosses $50,000 Mark to Set New Record High
The year of Bitcoin rages on. After breaking through the long-eyed $20,000 late last year, the cryptocurrency’s value has continued to skyrocket. In fact it just set yet another new record as it sailed past a major milestone.
After initially popping through the $50,000 threshold earlier in the week before pulling back, $BTC continued to rally. On Wednesday, the cryptocurrency climbed past $52,000 and has stayed on the far side of that mark in the hours since. Meanwhile, the second-largest crypto-asset Ether has also seen record highs as of late, trading for as much as $1,930.
While there are several potential reasons why cryptocurrencies are surging, one theory involves Bitcoin’s limited supply. Famously, Bitcoin has a finite cap as only 21 million coins will ever be mined. This stands in contrast to fiat currencies such as the dollar — especially during a time of economic stimulus efforts. As Morgan Creek Digital Assets co-founder and partner Anthony Pompliano explained to CNBC, “There were trillions of dollars that were printed and injected into the economy and everyone from individuals to financial institutions and corporations ran around the world looking for the best way to protect their purchasing power, they ultimately decided it was Bitcoin.”
Another big reason why Bitcoin has been getting a boost is thanks to its increasing mainstream acceptance. For example, last week, Mastercard announced plans to support select cryptocurrencies directly on its network. In a post detailing this decision, Mastercard’s Raj Dhamodharan wrote, “[W]e are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value – traditional or crypto – however they want. It should be your choice, it’s your money.” Elsewhere, PayPal began allowing users to purchase Bitcoin and other assets on the platform late last year.
In addition to enabling crypto purchases, some companies are also investing in Bitcoin. Most notable in this category is Tesla, which announced it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this month. Incidentally, $BTC has increased by more than $10,000 per coin since that purchase, meaning that their holdings are now likely worth closer to $1.85 billion if not more.
Looking ahead, per usual, there are an infinite number of price predictions for where Bitcoin could go. Among them, as CNBC reports, JPMorgan Chase put a “theoretical” long-term price target of $146,000 on Bitcoin last month. As for the aforementioned Pompliano, he believes that Bitcoin could hit $500,000 by the end of the decade and even reach $1 million in an unspecified amount of time.
Of course as always, there’s really no way of knowing what’s ahead for Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the acceptance that such assets have seen in recent months has been groundbreaking. Therefore, while Bitcoin may be setting plenty of records this month, there may be many more milestones in its future.
