{"id":341510,"date":"2017-05-21T03:46:28","date_gmt":"2017-05-20T19:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1493693"},"modified":"2017-05-21T03:46:28","modified_gmt":"2017-05-20T19:46:28","slug":"bitcoin-just-surged-past-2000-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/bitcoin-just-surged-past-2000-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin just surged past $2,000 for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s most popular cryptocurrency is now worth over $2,000 per coin. It took \u00a0That\u2019s according to a range of bitcoin exchanges, including Coinbase and Kraken. That valuation puts the total market cap of bitcoin \u2014 the total number of coins in circulation \u2014 at $32.92 billion.<\/p>\n

Bitcoin has been on a tear this year, as this chart from Coindesk shows<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Bitcoin\u00a0first broke the $1,000 valuation mark way back in 2013<\/a>, but a combination of factors \u2014 including the implosion of then-top exchange Mount Gox \u2014 saw the currency drop in value. Support from financial institutions trialed\u00a0bitcoin and blockchain-based services, and a general stability following new regulation in China,\u00a0saw bitcoin return to\u00a0the $1,000 mark again at the end of last year<\/a>. Since then, its\u00a0valuation has continued to grow consistently through 2017.<\/p>\n

When we wrote about bitcoin<\/a> (and ethereum) hitting all-time highs back at the end of\u00a0April, you could buy a bitcoin coin for\u00a0$1,343. Now, some three weeks later, the valuation is up 50 percent. The price of a coin rose 12 percent over the past week alone.<\/p>\n

But bitcoin isn\u2019t the only cryptocurrency on the rise. Ripple, the centralized currency that is aiming to be a settlement protocol for major banks, has surged more than 10x, or 1000% in under a month making it now the second most valuable cryptocurrency (only behind bitcoin) in circulation.<\/p>\n

Similarly, ethereum, a cryptocurrency designed to function as a blockchain-based computing platform for developers, is now trading $130 per coin with a total market cap of just under $12B, which represents a a little more than a 2x increase over the last month.<\/p>\n

The result of these increases is that bitcoin no longer constitutes the majority of the market cap for all cryptocurrencies. Today the total market cap of bitcoin represents just 47% of total cryptocurrencies \u2013 up until a few months ago\u00a0it consistently hovered around 80%.<\/p>\n

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Why have these other cryptocurrencies been performing so much better than bitcoin? Some say it\u2019s because of bitcoin\u2019s scaling issue. The currency has grown so large that the network is having trouble quickly confirming transactions unless users attach hefty fees for minors. And while the problem can be fixed with solutions like SegWit or Bitcoin Unlimited<\/a>, the most powerful\u00a0miners (who effectively\u00a0control the codebase of bitcoin) haven\u2019t been able to come to a consensus on which new protocol to implement.<\/p>\n

While increases of 10x in a month would typically be an obvious sign of a bubble, it\u2019s a little different with cryptocurrencies because no one really knows how much they should be worth. Unlike a company there are no assets or revenues we can use to assess a predictable valuation. So\u00a0in one sense, a total cryptocurrency market cap of $70B is insane \u2013 considering there is no tangible value behind it.<\/p>\n

But on the other hand, if (any of) these cryptocurrencies actually replace or supplant a global store of value like gold, then $70B is nothing. For example, the total estimated value of all gold mined<\/a> is around $8.2 trillion USD. Meaning that right now all cryptocurrencies put together don\u2019t even equal 1% of the world\u2019s gold reserves. Similarly, there is currently about $1.5 trillion USD<\/a> in circulation, meaning that all cryptocurrencies\u00a0today are still worth less than 5% of USD in circulation.<\/p>\n

The currency is in unchartered waters at $2,000, but some pundits\u00a0believe it has the potential to reach $10,000 (or more). To achieve this the community would likely have to sort out the scaling issue, which would give investors confidence that bitcoin\u2019s infrastructure be able to support it as it grows.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Mike Lewinski<\/a>\/Flickr<\/a> UNDER A CC BY 2.0<\/a> LICENSE<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" The world’s most popular cryptocurrency is now worth over $2,000 per coin. It took \u00a0That’s according to a range of bitcoin exchanges, including Coinbase and Kraken. That valuation puts the total market cap of bitcoin — the total number of coins in circulation — at $32.92 billion. Bitcoin has been on a tear this year, as this chart from Coindesk shows. Bitcoin\u00a0first… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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