Bitcoin Price Surges to $100,000: A Historic Milestone
Bitcoin has hit a major milestone, reaching $100,000 per coin for the first time ever. This surge in price comes on the heels of a recent election that favored candidates who support cryptocurrencies, including President-elect Donald Trump. Since early November, the price of bitcoin has jumped by over 45%, and year-to-date, prices have more than doubled.
Bitcoin, which was introduced 15 years ago in a white paper by the mysterious author Satoshi Nakamoto, has sparked a revolution in technology dedicated to peer-to-peer transactions. Today, there are hundreds of digital tokens, NFTs, and trading platforms that have emerged as a result of Nakamoto’s groundbreaking ideas.
Despite its success, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have also faced controversy, with concerns about cybercrimes and scams associated with them leading to billions of dollars in consumer losses. This has made federal regulators wary of embracing digital tokens completely. However, supporters of bitcoin hope that with the election results, there will be a shift towards more favorable regulations that will encourage traditional financial institutions to invest in bitcoin and support mining efforts by increasing energy production.
Even though bitcoin’s price can be volatile, experts agree that its overall growth trajectory has been undeniable. In recent times, a significant amount of demand driving this growth has come from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the price of bitcoin. Major financial institutions like BlackRock are behind these ETFs, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF being the largest of its kind.
According to Jay Jacobs, BlackRock’s U.S. head of thematic and active ETFs, the IBIT ETF has grown to over $45 billion in value since its launch in January. Just in the past month alone, its value has increased by $4.1 billion. As more investors from various wealth backgrounds around the world see bitcoin as a hedge against geopolitical risks, interest in using ETFs as a way to invest in bitcoin is expected to grow. Mainstream adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is on the horizon, with the potential to reshape the financial landscape in the coming years.
