The world’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin’s price has surged past $50,000 for the first time in the last three months after it crashed in May, reflecting ongoing recovery in the crypto market.
The largest digital coin advanced as much as 3.5 percent to almost $50,093 in Asian trading, with other tokens including Ether and Cardano’s ADA also rising. The last time Bitcoin surged above $50,000 was in mid-May.
Bitcoin had started tumbling in May after touching an all-time high of nearly $64,000 in April. China’s ban on financial institutions and payment companies providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions and warning against speculative crypto trading was one of the key reasons that had triggered the downfall.
More critical commentary later emerged, including about the environmental cost of the energy consumed by the computers that underpin Bitcoin. The world’s best-known cryptocurrency fell below $30,000 after the descent in May.
The revival in digital currencies has excited animal spirits again among the cryptocurrency faithful, putting longer-term predictions of $100,000 or more for Bitcoin back in vogue. Others see the speculative, volatile asset carving out a wider trading range for now.
Bitcoin is “getting nearer the higher end of what I expect as a new trading range in the low-$40,000s to low-$50,000s,” Mr.Rick Bensignor, chief executive at Bensignor Investment Strategies, commented.
Meanwhile, PayPal UK said it will allow customers in the UK to buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies starting this week. The worldwide adoption of cryptocurrency has grown by over 2,300 percent since the third quarter of 2019 and over 881 percent in the last year.
