Bitcoin breaks $1 000 mark

LONDON. - Given the past few days, it seems like 2017 could be a banner year for bitcoin. Bitcoin broke past $1 000 in value on its first day of trading in 2017.

This marks the first time in three years that the cryptocurrency has been so valuable. At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin sat at $1 027,05.

These figures are the highest bitcoin has been since its $1 216,70 peak in 2013, just weeks before the Japanese bitcoin exchange Mt Gox collapsed.

All told, bitcoin’s value grew over 100 percent in 2016. Bitcoin has been rising steadily upward since about August 2015 from a low of just over $220.

Recently, bitcoin has grown dramatically, upping its value about 30 percent over the last month and about 50 percent over the last three months. This overall growth is somewhat uncharacteristic of bitcoin’s historically rapid fluctuations.

The recent price rise has many bitcoin traders feeling optimistic and anticipating anywhere from a value of $1 400 all the way up to $3 000 by the end of 2017.

Worldwide trends toward bitcoin adoption and legitimisation are likely at least somewhat responsible for the recent price increase.

Switzerland has become a highly bitcoin-friendly nation as of late with FINMA’s plans to clarify regulation, railway ticketing systems’ recent adoption of bitcoin ATM functionality, and Ernst & Young’s Switzerland office adding a publicly accessible bitcoin ATM.

Bitcoin adoption has gained additional momentum in the US, and com- panies like KeepKey have been working to create more secure storage products for cryptocurrency.

Populations in India and Venezuela have both seen increased interest in cryptocurrency during their respective currency regulation and inflation issues.

Commenting on bitcoin, Bobby Sharp, cofounder and CMO of Coinsource, the largest network of bitcoin ATMs in the United States, said it best: “It’s really exciting to be a part of this industry. The total market cap of all outstanding bitcoin right now is over $12,5 billion. In January 2016, it was at $6,5 billion, and in January 2015, it was at $3,5 billion - that graph is pretty sexy. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when that market cap doubles again next year.” -