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Bitcoin Screams Past $50,000 in Latest Record-Setting Surge
Bitcoin flirted with $50,000 price-mark earlier this week but it appears that this time around it might stick.
Earlier today Bitcoin officially flew past the psychological barrier barrier of $50,000 and is now trading at approximately $51,000 with room for growth. New all-time highs are being hit by the minute but $51,646 remains the peak for the time being.
Fifty thousand is just the latest milestone for Bitcoin in what’s already become an incredibly bullish year for the digital currency. In 2021 alone Bitcoin has broken the $30,000 and $40,000 barriers for the first time ever.
Was Elon Musk the Catalyst for $50k?
Earlier this month news broke that Elon Musk’s Tesla had converted $1.5 billion of its balance sheet to Bitcoin. At the time Bitcoin was trading at approximately $39,000 but it immediately reacted to the news by smashing the $40,000 barrier and then flying to approximately $47,000 in the next two days.
Since Bitcoin hit $47,000 it’s been in somewhat of a holding pattern for the next two weeks but, once again, the bulls seem to have arrived.
This time around numerous Bitcoin experts are predicting that retail investors are showing up in droves, perhaps at least partially driven by Elon Musk. As for Tesla’s $1.5 billion? It’s rumored the company acquired its BTC around the $30,000-mark so you could use very rough math to estimate the company has already gained a staggering nearly $1 billion appreciation. It’s all conjecture but Tesla may have made more by holding Bitcoin than selling cars over the last decade.
Tesla is hardly the only company that has invested significantly in Bitcoin. Software firm MicroStrategy is perhaps the most well known as CEO Michael Saylor has been a huge proponent of Bitcoin over the last couple years. Payment processors PayPal and Square have also made significant investments into the market.
Is $50,000 the New Normal?
Every time Bitcoin breaks a significant barrier the immediate question whether it will be able to hold that mark.
In early 2021 the answer to that question has been a resounding yes. Bitcoin flew past $30,000 and $40,000 without ever looking back.
As investors look to gain an entry-point into the market it’s becoming more and more likely that $10,000 Bitcoins are simply a part of ancient history now, barring anything catastrophic in the future.
The cryptocurrency market on a whole, as usual, has responded positively to the new highs for Bitcoin. Ethereum, Polkadot and Binance Coin have all experienced significant gains today.
Meanwhile Bitcoin maintains a market dominance of approximately 60%. Now the question is where Bitcoin goes from here. Have we reached another plateau or is $60,000 a legitimate target in the near future?
