On Monday, June 24, the main cryptocurrencies are moderately expensive. The price of bitcoin rose by 2.5% - to $ 10.9 thousand per coin, and etherium - by 0.05%, to $ 310. Such data leads portal Coinmarketcap.
It is curious that even on June 22, the rate of Bitcoin for the first time since March 2018 exceeded $ 11,000. Upon reaching the psychologically important mark, the value of the electronic coin slightly decreased, but still remains near the record level. Ethereum, in turn, at the moment reached the maximum level from August 2018 ($ 315 per coin), after which it was also corrected.
The sharp rise in cryptocurrency prices to annual maxima is largely due to the increased interest of global investors in digital money. Murad Salikhov, Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of the Financial Innovations Association, told about this in a conversation with RT.
“Today, some investors are investing in Bitcoin in the hope of seeing prices soar, as in 2017, to levels of $ 20–30 thousand. for the coin. Others see cryptocurrency as an alternative to securities. The efforts of both groups of investors, together with speculative transactions, give Bitcoin strong support above the level of $ 10 thousand, ”explained Salikhov.
Cryptocurrencies caused a stir at the end of 2017. At that time, Bitcoin entered the top five largest currencies in the world, and its price exceeded $ 20,000. But already against the background of the rapid rise in the price of electronic coins, many economists began to seriously warn about the threat of another financial bubble.
As a result, experts' fears were realized, and 2018 was remembered by a sharp collapse of the cryptocurrency market. From January to December, Bitcoin fell by almost 80% - from $ 20 thousand per coin to $ 3-4 thousand. The collapse of the value of electronic money was largely due to the increased global regulation of the industry, constant hacker attacks on cryptobirds, and bans on advertising digital money by well-known Internet companies, as well as withdrawal of funds by large investors in real money.
However, since the beginning of 2019, the rate of Bitcoin has grown by almost 200%, and the total capitalization of the electronic money market has increased by 160% and today is about $ 328 billion.
“One of the reasons for the growth of Bitcoin is the global tension between the largest economies of the world - the United States and China. Now trade war threatens the growth of world GDP, as well as individual fiat (real) currencies. Against this background, Bitcoin looks attractive because it is not associated with assets that are familiar to investors, ”said RT director of the analytical department of Freedom Finance IC Vadim Merkulov.
According to the expert, the actions of the US Fed also contribute to the rise in Bitcoin prices. On June 19, top managers of the American Central Bank, following the meeting, kept the interest rate at 2.25—2.5% per annum, but hinted at its decline in the near future. This policy of the Federal Reserve traditionally makes less profitable investments in bonds and bank deposits in the United States. As a result, market players are beginning to actively invest money in risky assets with higher returns, including cryptocurrency.
As Murad Salikhov points out, at the moment investors are low on the likelihood of another bitcoin collapsing. Against this background, cryptocurrency costs are expected to continue to increase until the end of the year.
According to Vadim Merkulov, interest in Bitcoin and other electronic coins is also fueled by the positive news of the cryptocurrency industry. In particular, Facebook announced plans to launch its own Libra cryptocurrency by 2020. As expected, it will be possible to conduct operations with a new digital asset using WhatsApp services, Facebook Messenger, as well as a special application.
Against this background, according to Merkulov, until the end of 2019, bitcoin can rise in price to $ 14 thousand per coin, but it will be possible to avoid sharp market fluctuations, as was the case in 2017. According to the expert, the field of digital money is still not sufficiently regulated, so investing in cryptocurrency is less secure than investing in securities.
In many ways, the impossibility of full control over digital money is associated with the technological features of electronic coins. An expert of the International Financial Center company Gaidar Hasanov told about this in a conversation with RT.
“The decentralized structure of cryptocurrency and blockchain is not possible to exercise control. The difficulty lies in the absence of a single center where all cryptocurrencies would be located and it would be possible to introduce regulatory legislation, as is the case with classical exchanges (New York or Chicago), ”Hasanov explained.
Thus, over the next months, investors who left the market in 2018 will gradually return to the cryptoindustry. According to Vadim Merkulov, the price range of $ 12-13 thousand will be decisive for Bitcoin. So, if the value of an electronic coin can consolidate above the designated level, the market can expect an additional inflow of investments.