Bitcoin Price Soars Past $18,000: Is All-Time High Next?

Bitcoin briefly touched $18,000 Wednesday, in a rally that increased its value by 147% since the beginning of the year. Analysts are expecting new all-time highs even though it still has not breached the previous record.

Bitcoin closed at $17,782 Wednesday, which was one of its most volatile days this year. Wednesday marked the first time Bitcoin stepped above $18,000 in three years, going as high as $18,488 on Coinbase with the daily low at $17,200. It was around $2,000 away from its previous all-time high of just below $20,000.

Many analysts predicted that the benchmark cryptocurrency will hit its all-time high level by end of this year. Bloomberg, in its "Crypto Market Outlook" in June, said Bitcoin will hit $20,000 before the year ends, stating that something "has to really go wrong" for its price to go down.

PlanB, the creator of the Stock-to-Flow model, was confident that Bitcoin will hit $55,000 after the third halving last May. The model looks at the scarcity of Bitcoin and the supply shock that happens every halving, which happens roughly every four years, where the issuance of Bitcoin is cut in half. As supply decreases and demand increases, the price will increase.

Mike Novogratz, a billionaire and CEO of Galaxy Digital, said Bitcoin could climb up to $60,000, CNN reported. In a response to "Game of Thrones" actress Maisie Williams, Novogratz tweeted that he recently bought some more Bitcoins at $15,800, expecting it to reach $20,000 and then $65,000.

A combination of macro factors, including the weakening dollar, may have contributed to the increase in the price of Bitcoin. The monetary and fiscal policy, where central banks lower rates and print money, are reasons for the increase, said Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, Coindesk reported. "Central banks' dependency on newly printed money will make BTC attractive," he said.