Bitcoin is back up after a five-day slump
After a five-day losing streak, bitcoin was up about 8% Monday morning to $53,600.
Last week, the cryptocurrency tumbled below $50,000 for the first time in a month — a steep decline from its all-time high above $64,000 that it reached in mid-April.
And although the past couple of weeks have been a roller coaster for the cryptocurrency, bitcoin has skyrocketed in value this year as it gained more mainstream acceptance.
“Naysayers are having a complete change of heart and they have finally realized that if they want to service their wealthy clients, they need to provide access to crypto king, bitcoin,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at foreign exchange broker AvaTrade, told CNN Business. “The recent sell off is very much over now, and the chances are that rally is back on.”
Crypto enthusiasm spiked at the beginning of April as trading platform Coinbase went public at a valuation of $86 billion, followed by a wild 500% rally in Dogecoin — a digital asset that was created as a joke in 2013. Cryptocurrency backers have spent years insisting that bitcoin, ethereum and other digital coins could revolutionize the world of finance, and with the success of Coinbase’s Wall Street debut, those backers are finally having their moment.
“Bitcoin has moved past the era where a price correction can stir panic for an unprecedented bear cycle,” Konstantin Anissimov, executive director at cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO, told CNN Business. “Investors are coming to terms with the scare that surrounds the capital gains tax hike from the US,” he added.
Tesla has started accepting bitcoin payments for its cars, and the company also holds some of the digital currency on its balance sheet. Payment processors including PayPal, Mastercard and Visa are trying to streamline crypto payments on their networks. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs will reportedly soon offer its private wealth management clients avenues to invest in bitcoin and other digital currencies, and Morgan Stanley announced it will offer its wealthy clients access to bitcoin funds.
