Bitcoin Spikes To Near 2019 High

Bitcoin continues its roller coaster of ups and downs in 2019 as the cryptocurrency shot back up and breached $13,000 for the first time in about two weeks, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Bitcoin climbed for the third straight day and peaked at $13,154, which is a large gain from its drop to under $10,000 just last week. On June 26, it reached an almost two-year high of $13,880. The gains were bigger than other cryptocurrencies on the market, like Ether and Litecoin. Bloomberg’s Galaxy Crypto Index went up 1.5 percent.

The increased movement of cryptocurrencies, analysts say, could be a part of the interest stirred up by Facebook’s announcement of a cryptocurrency of its own, called Libra.

Tyler Winklevoss, CEO and co-founder of Gemini Trust, said that a main part of the crypto surge is individual investors.

“It’s the first time where the little guy actually is there and has an advantage structurally because they don’t have the compliance, the legal departments holding them back,” Winklevoss said.

Facebook isn’t the only company looking to introduce its own currency. Recently, Goldman Sachs announced that it wanted to work on a strategy to develop distributed ledge technology to help with its own proposed cryptocurrency called JPM Coin.

Another factor in the continued investment and interest in digital currencies is the ongoing political uncertainty and instability that mainstream markets face on a regular basis.

David Marcus, the Facebook exec in charge of pushing Libra and its blockchain department, wrote a letter to lawmakers hoping to alleviate some fears about the digital currency. 

“We want, and need, governments, central banks, regulators, non-profits, and other stakeholders at the table and value all of the feedback we have received,” Marcus wrote.

Bitcoin dropped almost 21 percent to around $10,000 in early July. It’s seen the most movement since 2018, when its bubble finally burst. It’s up 250 percent in 2019.