The bitcoin price soared to a new all-time high of $6,054 on Friday, punching through the $6,000 barrier for the first time.
After a week of volatility, the bitcoin price had appeared to settle down to a stable level on Friday. That, however, was just the calm before the storm. After consolidating support at the $5,650 mark, the bitcoin price began to soar, crossing the $5,700, $5,800, and $5,900 checkpoints in quick succession
At 15:00 UTC, Bitfinex experienced an explosion in trading volume, carrying the bitcoin price over the $6,000 to set a new all-time high of $6,054.
This historic rally carried bitcoin past another significant milestone: a $100 billion market cap. As recently as September 15, the combined value of all cryptocurrency market caps was just $99 billion. Now, bitcoin has exceeded that mark on its own. Bitcoin now boasts a dominant 57% share of the total crypto market cap, which currently sits just under $175 billion.
The bitcoin price has now raced past nearly ever prominent analyst’s short-term target, even those that were once considered-overly optimistic. FundStrat’s Tom Lee, for instance, had predicted the bitcoin price would not reach $6,000 until mid-2018. Standpoint Research’s Ronnie Moas, meanwhile, had originally set a year-end target for $5,000 but has since updated that to $7,500 in light of the sustained bull run.
Following today’s rally, prominent trader and crypto economist Tuur Demeester posted on Twitter that he is waiting to observe the momentum of other cryptocurrencies before he sets a new short-term target but added that he is concerned the “market is frothy” considering that the scheduled date for the contentious SegWit2x hard fork is just 27 days away. On the other hand, today’s movement may be an indication that traders believe the fork will be called off.
In any case, this record-setting advance has carried the markets into unprecedented territory, and time will tell whether it sustains this bullish trend or pulls back as the looming SegWit2x hard fork approaches.
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