In a historic leap, Bitcoin continued its skyrocketing rise, surpassing the $111,000 barrier for the first time ever, amid a wave of increasing optimism in digital markets, according to information from the 'Binance' platform.
The largest digital currency in the world recorded a historic level of $111,886 in early London trading before retreating slightly to about $111,012, according to 'Coin Metrics' data.
The dollar price in Egypt rises against the pound from its lowest level in months.
What is the secret behind this remarkable rise?
The head of research at 'CoinShares', a digital asset management company, James Butterfill, stated that this rise is driven by a combination of factors, the most prominent being:
Continuous positive momentum in the market.
Increasing optimism regarding the regulation of digital currencies in the United States.
Increasing interest from institutional investors.
Despite the decline in U.S. stock markets, especially the tech 'NASDAQ' index, Bitcoin has made its way upwards, seemingly in a search by investors for alternative safe havens for value.
In a notable shift, JPMorgan's CEO, Jamie Dimon — known for his cautious stance towards Bitcoin — announced that the bank will allow its customers to purchase the digital currency, a move considered by observers as a 'stamp of approval' from Wall Street on cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is a decentralized cryptocurrency system that is based on blockchain technology and can be mined or 'minted' by any user participating in the system, requiring them to create new blocks of the program, according to the Russian news agency 'TASS'.
The concept of the system was published in November 2008 by its author (possibly a team of authors) under the pseudonym 'Satoshi Nakamoto', and the popularity of 'Bitcoin' peaked only in recent years, with Bitcoin having been issued in a limited quantity.
The economic news editor at Al Arabiya, Shadi Al-Za'eem, stated that the recent rises in Bitcoin come from financial institutions and governments' direct interest in Bitcoin and indirectly in other investment products, such as Bitcoin ETF trading funds and companies supporting the idea of acquiring Bitcoin, such as MicroStrategy.
He explained that the difference between the rise that occurred this morning and the previous rise on January 20 is that the representation ratio of Bitcoin was about 57% of the cryptocurrency market in January, and the total market value of cryptocurrencies rose to $3.7 trillion.
He added, 'Despite Bitcoin reaching record levels, we see that the market value of cryptocurrencies is approximately $3.5 trillion, still lower than the levels recorded in January, as the representation ratio of Bitcoin is currently at 63% compared to 57% in January.'
He stated that current investor interest is focused on Bitcoin without other cryptocurrencies, and if Bitcoin stabilizes above the level of $109,000, the market may witness developments, and some speculative investors may exit to enter other coins.