XiaNaphryz
LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/22/bitcoin-price-hits-fresh-record-high-above-2100.html
10-13-2017 update:
New high reached:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bitcoin-prices-all-time-high-goldman-sachs-morgan-stanley/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...anks-finally-went-nuts-over-cryptrocurrencies
Monday marks the seven-year anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day – the moment a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz spent 10,000 bitcoin on two Papa John's pizzas.
More important than the episode being widely recognized as the first transaction using the cryptocurrency is what it tells us about the bitcoin rally that saw it break through the $2,100 and $2,200 marks on Monday.
Bitcoin was trading as high as $2,251.61 midday Monday, hitting a fresh record high, after first powering through the $2,000 barrier over the weekend, according to CoinDesk data.
On May 22, 2010, Hanyecz asked a fellow enthusiast on a bitcoin forum to accept 10,000 bitcoin for two Papa John's Pizzas. At the time, Hanyecz believed that the coins he had "mined" on his computer were worth around 0.003 cents each.
The cryptocurrency has many doubters as it continues to be associated with criminal activity, but it has still seen a stunning rally. Here are two facts, on Bitcoin Pizza Day, however, that highlight this:
A number of factors have been driving the rally:
- While being worth $30 at the time, Hanyecz pizzas would now cost $22.5 million at current bitcoin prices.
- If you bought $100 of bitcoin at the 0.003 cent price on May 22, 2010, you'd now be sitting on around $75 million.
- Recently passed legislation in Japan that allows retailers to start accepting bitcoin as a legal currency has boosted trading in yen, which now accounts for over 40 percent of all bitcoin trade
- Political uncertainty globally has driven demand for bitcoin as a safe haven asset
- A debate within the bitcoin community about the future of the underlying technology behind bitcoin known as the blockchain has been taking place. There was fear at one point this could lead to the creation of two separate cryptocurrencies but those worries have largely subsided with an alternative, more palatable option now being put forward.
Bitcoin has rallied over 120 percent year to-date.
10-13-2017 update:
New high reached:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bitcoin-prices-all-time-high-goldman-sachs-morgan-stanley/
Bitcoin investors have profited handsomely by ignoring the advice of some of the financial world's most prominent figures, including JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon, who recently denounced it as a "fraud," and Warren Buffett, who likens it to a "mirage."
While that view may ultimately prove correct, with even buyers of the digital currency warning of a bubble, the value of Bitcoin continues to soar into the financial stratosphere. Bitcoin prices hit an all-time high of $5,829 on Friday and jumped nearly 500 percent since the start of the year..
Bitcoin's market capitalization as calculated by CoinMarketCap is more than $95 billion -- that tops the market value of Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS), two of Wall Street's biggest players.
The jury remains out on how long -- or if -- the good times will last given the unpredictable nature of the market for digital money. One reason for the latest run-up in Bitcoin are rumors that China will reverse its recent decision to ban cryptocurrency exchanges. Fans of the currency also note that it is gaining more acceptance with consumers, with ATMs springing up in multiple states around the U.S.
But Kevin Werbach, an associate professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, sounds a note of caution, and contends that the price of Bitcoin is being fueled by "speculation and, quite likely, by manipulation through some of the exchanges."
"Speculative bubbles always go up until they pop, but no one can be sure when that will be," he said by email. "There's no good reason why cryptocurrency prices have inflated so tremendously over the past year. That means they could also go down with no good reason."
In a note to clients today, UBS analysis expressed skepticism that cryptocurrencies will ever achieve mainstream acceptance. A "twentyfold increase in Bitcoin prices in just two years, and an absence of any fundamental economic backing, cryptocurrency prices are almost certainly a bubble," they wrote.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...anks-finally-went-nuts-over-cryptrocurrencies
Wall Street banks that weren't already on the bitcoin bandwagon appear to be piling in, or at least eyeing seats, after the cryptocurrency surged to all-time highs this week on the way to $6,000.
Analysts are working to keep up with demand from clients for information. UBS and Citigroup published extensive explainers on blockchain technology, while senior executives at JPMorgan Chase & Co. warmed to the cryptocurrency during the bank's third-quarter earnings call.
The digital currency has risen more than fivefold after trading at less than $1,000 as recently as December, breaking the $5,000 mark with its biggest weekly gain since June. Throughout its rise, the cryptocurrency shrugged off tighter regulations, feuding factions and warnings from the likes of JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon of fraud and an eventual price collapse.