Bitcoin breaks above $6,000 for first time since November
Biggest cryptocurrency outperforms its closest peers again
Singapore: Bitcoin’s nine-day rally has pushed it back above $6,000 (Dh22,038).
The biggest cryptocurrency outperformed its closest peers again in the digital market on Thursday and has now rebounded more than 90 per cent from its trough last December.
It’s the latest milestone as the wild ride continues for the decade-old token, which crashed last year from a peak of more than $19,000 in 2017.
“The only store of value in the space right now is Bitcoin,” said Michael Novogratz, co-founder and chief executive at Galaxy Investment Partners LLC. “It doesn’t need to change — it’s gold,” he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television from a conference in Las Vegas.
The token gained 2.7% to $6,060 at 9:43am in London, according to Bloomberg composite pricing. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 basket of the largest digital currencies rose just 1.1 per cent, having fallen the previous day.
Bitcoin’s nine-weekday winning streak is the longest since May 2017. It shrugged off a brief sell-off Wednesday after Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, said hackers withdrew 7,000 Bitcoins worth about $40 million at the time.
Security remains one of the key obstacles to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, given the industry’s history of hacks. At a gathering Tuesday in Chicago, some of the largest traders including DRW Holdings Inc.’s Cumberland crypto unit and Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital Holdings discussed creating a blacklist of counterparties known to renege on trades or engage in nefarious activities.
“Bitcoin’s long-term technical profiles continue to point to a new up cycle,” said Fundstrat Global Advisors LLC technical strategist Rob Sluymer in a note May 8. He reckons the digital asset is continuing to rebound from support at its 200-week moving average, after telling investors last week to buy.