Bitcoin breaks past $10,000 for first time in two months
Bitcoin jumped past the $10,000 mark for the first time in almost two months this morning, after several weeks of trading in narrow ranges.
In addition to suffering pricing blows due to the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, the cryptocurrency went through its third so-called halving on 11 May, which cut the rewards given to those who “mine” bitcoin to 6.25 new coins from 12.5.
The “halving” has affected the supply side of bitcoin and increased the time needed for miners to find their break-even point, causing pressure on the digital currency’s value.
As of 2pm today, bitcoin was valued at $10,365 on Luxembourg-based exchange Bitstamp.
“Bitcoin has risen above $10,000 and it feels good to be back,” said Etoro market analyst Simon Peters.
“Over the last five months, more bitcoin has been taken off exchanges than put on. A big enough market order could have shifted the price significantly over the weekend.
“However, we are seeing some of this bitcoin coming back onto trading venues, with its net flow on exchanges positive for the first time since February. In my view, this is merely investors looking to take advantage of alt coin prices, which are now gaining momentum compared with bitcoin”
Ethereum, a smaller digital currency, also rose above the $300 mark over the weekend.