Bitcoin price hits a new high in 2016 and is now trading at figures unseen since early 2014, at a near 3-year-high.
After a strong quarter that saw bitcoin price rally from the $600 mark in October to $700 in November before steadily increasing afterwards, the value of the cryptocurrency broke through the $800 to reach a high of $810 on the Bitstamp Price Index (BPI). That figure was achieved for the first time since February 5, 2014, when bitcoin price struck $809.48.
Bitcoin is trading to the dollar at a new 34-month high.
The surge began late Tuesday night (UTC). After a steady day of trading that hovered above the $790 mark, price spiked from $792.51 at 22:35 to $801.71 an hour later at 23:35. Following a brief drop-off, trading value made further gains throughout Wednesday before striking a high of $809.90 at 09:50.
At the time of publishing, the BPI shows the index price at $809.81.
In the past few months, the world has witnessed a number of notable incidents that have arguably spurred on bitcoin’s rally. Chief among them, is the unlikely victory of US president-elect Donald Trump. The incoming president’s cabinet pick in bitcoin-friendly Mick Mulvaney for U.S. Treasury chief, yesterday, could have helped the cryptocurrency spring past $800.
Chinese exchanges have seen record trading volumes following Trump’s victory and the country’s widely adopted 0% trading fee policy sees everyday investors in their droves turning toward bitcoin as confidence in the Chinese yuan drops, much like the fiat currency itself.
Recent cash crunches in India and Venezuela have also led to record trading volumes and adoption of bitcoin in those countries.
As the year winds down, bitcoin price started 2016 at $432. At $810, the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency has gained 87.5% in value.
Bitcoin’s total market cap currently stands at $12.985 billion.
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For the most recent bitcoin price analysis piece from CCN.com analyst Jim Fredrickson, click here. Today’s analysis will be published shortly.
All time references are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Image from Shutterstock. Charts from Bitcoin Wisdom and CoinMarketCap.
