Bitcoin Price Update: Cryptocurrency Flat After 30 Days Of Major Swings

The price of bitcoin, the world’s best-known cryptocurrency seems to have gone full circle in the last one month, with its value a little over $15,100 in the early hours of Tuesday. Exactly a month ago, on Dec. 10, bitcoin was priced at $15,037 at the close of trade for the day.

Just given those numbers, it is impossible to tell everything that happened to the virtual currency in the interim. In the six days following Dec. 10, bitcoin’s price rose almost by a massive 30 percent, topping out at over $19,340 on Dec. 16. The speed of the crash that followed was even more dizzying, with the value falling to below $13,900 six days later.

But Dec. 22 was not the low point for the cryptocurrency in the last 30 days. That came another eight days later, on Dec. 30, when one bitcoin was worth only about $12,630. Large swings in its price seem to be becoming the norm for bitcoin, which gained $4,500 in value in just the following one week, by Jan. 6, before plummeting below $15,000 once again Jan. 8.

The upswing in the digital currency’s value picked up pace mid-November, after reaching an all-time high of over $6,500 early that month, likely a result of CME Group Inc announcing it would start offering “bitcoin futures.” Over the following few days, hundreds of thousands of people signed up to online platforms that allow cryptocurrency trades, and before November was over, bitcoin was valued at over $11,000 — almost 70 percent higher than where it began the month.

Just a week later, on Dec. 7, it had already crossed the $15,000 mark. Even if you keep in mind that bitcoin started 2017 just shy of $1,000, the rise in its price from November onward is still quite astonishing.

But many an investor is wary of betting on bitcoin because of the wild volatility it exhibits, and the unregulated nature of the cryptocurrency, the latter certainly a feature that also attracts many of its adherents.

There is also another fact — bitcoin is a finite currency. Unlike paper currencies issued by governments, which they can print more of if they like, the code of bitcoin limits it to a maximum 21 million being mined. Whether it will ensure its value will remain high remains to be seen, dependent as that is on a very large number of factors unrelated to each other.

All prices for this piece were taken from Coindesk.