On Tuesday, February 9, the bitcoin rate renewed its all-time high.

During the trades, the price of the cryptocurrency grew by more than 21% and for the first time during the entire period of observations it reached $ 48.2 thousand per coin.

After a sharp increase, the value of a digital asset began to adjust and dropped to $ 46 thousand, as evidenced by data from the CoinDesk portal.

Note that a sharp rise in the price of bitcoin started the day before.

So, at the auction on Monday, the quotations of the electronic coin increased from the level of $ 38-39 thousand to the range of $ 43-44 thousand. At the same time, at the moment, the value rose to $ 44.8 thousand.

The main reason for the observed dynamics was the reaction of bidders to Tesla's announcement.

In a report published on February 8, the electric vehicle manufacturer announced the purchase of bitcoins for a total of $ 1.5 billion and plans to introduce a digital asset as a means of payment for its products.

As the expert on CEX.IO Broker finance Alexander Yanyuk told RT, investors are positive about the prospects for bitcoin after a representative of large business appears on the market.

Against this background, players are beginning to actively invest in cryptocurrency.

“The impact of this news on investor sentiment was so significant because Tesla, surprisingly, is now the largest automaker in the world in terms of market value.

Moreover, the purchase of bitcoins for $ 1.5 billion became the largest one-time investment in this cryptocurrency, which only added to the significance of the event, "the expert explained.

Note that due to the excitement and record growth in the price of bitcoin, the total value of the entire cryptocurrency market has grown by more than $ 230 billion since the beginning of the week and at the auction on February 9 was very close to the level of $ 1.4 trillion.

Such data is provided by the Coinmarketcap portal.

“Private investors perceive Tesla's actions as confirmation of the demand for cryptocurrency.

This is what the observed growth is connected with.

It is noteworthy that as a result of the frenzied increase in the price of bitcoin, some exchanges turned out to be so overheated that technical failures began to occur in their work, "Alexander Khvoinitsky, marketing director of the cryptocurrency P2P platform Chatex, said in a conversation with RT.

According to the head of the analytical department of AMarkets Artem Deev, in the near future the bitcoin rate may additionally rise and surpass the $ 50 thousand mark. At the same time, according to the expert, the digital asset is currently overvalued by the market.

This state of affairs risks leading to a sudden collapse of the exchange rate, as it happened in 2018, the expert said.

“Now it is especially necessary to take into account that the electronic coin has been growing in price for quite a long time.

The cryptocurrency rose in price throughout 2020 and now only continues to gain momentum.

In these conditions, the scenario of 2017-2018 may repeat itself, when bitcoin collapsed several times after a long period of growth, ”Deev said.

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Recall that the first significant growth in the global cryptocurrency market occurred in 2017.

Then, from January to December, bitcoin rose in price more than 20 times - from $ 900 to $ 20 thousand - and even managed to briefly enter the top five largest currencies in the world.

However, even then, many economists began to talk seriously about the threat of another financial bubble.

Experts' fears were confirmed in 2018, when the cost of bitcoin plummeted by almost 80% - from $ 20 thousand per coin to $ 3-4 thousand. The collapse of the electronic coin market was largely a result of increased global regulation of the industry, constant hacker attacks on crypto exchanges, and withdrawal of funds by major market players into real money.

“Now, if only a technical correction takes place in the market, the bitcoin rate will drop to $ 38-40 thousand. However, if large investors, fearing an overbought coin, start withdrawing funds in real money again, another market collapse will begin.

In this case, the bitcoin rate may fall several times, ”stressed Alexander Khvoinitsky.

However, in the long term, the value of a digital asset will continue to grow, the expert is sure.

According to him, more and more investors are beginning to perceive cryptocurrency as a defensive asset.

So, during the period of financial crises and the growth of world inflation, the purchase of electronic coins can become one of the most reliable ways to save money.

“The point is that cryptocurrency is not subject to inflation.

In addition, over the next few years, the amplitude of Bitcoin exchange rate fluctuations will decrease.

It is likely that even after a possible fall, the rate will again approach the $ 40 thousand mark and may even exceed it several times, "concluded Khvoinitskiy.