Bitcoin prices have hit an all time high. The virtual currency has achieved a price of $1,186 per bitcoin. This high comes over 3 years after the previous high of somewhere around $1,165 and is the latest milestone in a series of violent fluctuations that the currency has been undergoing of late.
Based upon blockchain technology, bitcoin is easily the most popular virtual currency currently around. It uses peer-to-peer technology to operate and unlike conventional money, it has almost zero central authority or banks. Instead, all the important processes like managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is done by the network of people using it.
Other important attributes of the currency include the fact that it is open-source and has a public design — meaning that it can be used almost anywhere.
Meanwhile, the lack of a central authority also leads to wild fluctuations in Bitcoin prices, although, folks who bought it few couple of years ago have mostly received hundreds of percent worth of ROI. For example, bitcoin was selling for $1000+ in 2013, when everyone seemed to have gone crazy after the virtual currency. However, prices started dropping and bitcoin could be had for merely $250 only a couple of years ago. This happened after a prominent bitcoin exchange called Mt. Gox was shut down after reports that it had somehow lost hundreds of thousands of user owned bitcoins.
Prices had tanked then and it took the currency all this time to get back and across its previous high mark. For the past couple of years though, the currency has been on a path of slow but steady growth. Meanwhile, the currency’s current spurt of growth has everyone mystified.
There is speculation that this particular rise in bitcoin price occurred because the currency has now ceased being an alternative investment and has become more mainstream — meaning that it has started following the stock market. And the stock market of course, has been on a roll for the past couple of months — ever since President Trump was elected.
Meanwhile, the currency appears to be stabilizing somewhat, which would be a good sign and could help cryptocurrencies get into the mainstream. However, it is far too early to say anything at this juncture about when that event — of it happens at all — will take place.
