Newsflash: Bitcoin Price Breaks $15,000, Hits Quarter Trillion Market Cap

It's getting harder to keep up.

Bitcoin price exploded to a new record high on Thursday to climb above $15,000 for the first time in history.

Bitcoin’s remarkable gains continue with few signs of fatigue as the world’s first cryptocurrency broke new ground to soar past a dizzying $15,000 per coin on prominent US-based exchange Coinbase.

On the back of strong trading session through the early hours of Thursday (UTC), bitcoin rose to a new all-time high of $15,245 (Coinbase). In major markets like that of Korea, bitcoin price surged to a USD equivalent of $17,000. The extreme premiums underline the unprecedented demand and appetite for the decentralized currency that is resoundingly seen as a store of value for investors, beyond its utility as a currency.

At press time, trading data on CoinmarketCap (which factors-in global trading markets with price premiums) shows price reaching above $15,300, a gain of over 18.5% on the day. With today’s bull run, bitcoin’s market cap is now above $250 billion – over a quarter of a trillion dollars.

If bitcoin were dropped into the M1 index (the Liquid or narrow money metric), it would rank at #18 on the global list, above the likes of Australia and Russia.

Since the turn of the year, bitcoin is now up 1400%.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

Last modified: March 4, 2021 5:02 PM

Samburaj Das

Samburaj is Editor of CCN.com, one of the earliest and foremost publications covering blockchain, and financial technology news. Now focusing on Markets, Showbiz, Sports, and Gaming. He has authored over 2,000 articles for CCN.com. Reach him at samburaj@ccn.com. Visit his LinkedIn profile here.