Bitcoin Hits $10,000 Mark For the First Time

Bitcoin has reached a new all-time high. It reached $10,000 today morning for the first time in the history of cryptocurrency. According to Coindesk, bitcoin first surpassed the $10,000 mark around 1.30am UTC (9.30am Hong Kong time), and soon reached $10,044 after a brief dip. It reached a new height of $10,198 at around 11am HKT.

A year ago, Bitcoin had its sights set on reaching $1,000 and so this new milestone will help many people to re-evaluate the future potential of the cryptocurrency.

Peter Smith, who leads the bitcoin firm Blockchain.info, told The Wall Street Journal that they have “millions of active users,” as opposed to last year, when they “didn’t have a million.”

According to several media reports, .Bitcoin’s market cap has risen above $170 bn, making it worth more than many US companies such as Boeing and General Electric.

Bitcoin is breaking through symbolic price barriers every few weeks at a very high pace each time. It took bitcoin a bit over two weeks to go from $7,000 to $8,000, and just a week to reach $9,000. Just days later it has crossed $10,000.

Dr. Daniele Bianchi, Warwick Business School, Assistant Professor of Finance and a researcher of crypto-currencies said "Despite fears about the Bitcoin 'bubble' bursting, the price of the new digital coins is going through the roof. Indeed, the increasing demand pressure from investors and speculators makes the case for an even further increase in Bitcoin prices in the near future.

As the supply of Bitcoins is kept fixed by the underlying protocol, price increases are essentially due to increasing demand.

Bitcoin is becoming more like an asset class rather than a method of payment. This is something that the public and regulators should realize to fully understand the price dynamics of Bitcoin."

"In a sign of accelerating demand pressure, the number of active Bitcoin wallets has grown almost five-fold over five years. Similarly, the number of exchanges has been increasing exponentially since early 2017, partly driven by the explosion of the Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) as a funding strategy to set new marketplaces, and partly driven by increasing margins and profitability due to increasing Bitcoin prices.

Demand pressure is essentially driven by two things. Firstly, the increasing awareness by both the public and investors that cryptocurrencies are here to stay, and secondly, the increasing professionalisation of cryptocurrency trading", he added.

Bitcoin's rise in value has exceeded the predictions of many high profile economists and if the trend continues then it will reach  $25,000 within the next 5 years.