London (AFP)
Bitcoin climbed this weekend temporarily above the symbolic $ 10,000 threshold for the first time since September.
On the night of Sunday to Monday, the famous cryptocurrency peaked at 10,194.88 dollars for a bitcoin, according to figures compiled by the financial data provider Bloomberg, a level more seen in four and a half months.
The virtual currency then fell back after "profit taking", described Marcus Swanepoel, director of Luno, a cryptocurrency exchange. It was trading around 9,830 dollars Monday around 11:10 GMT (12:10 in Paris).
No particular reason seems to explain the progression of this weekend, but observers have been raising for several weeks the prospect, in the coming months, of a halving of the reward for minors, who operate the network, as potential factor of increase.
Bitcoin had a positive start to the year with a 30% increase in January alone. A good performance which is however far from exceptional as the volatility of the cryptocurrency is important.
In 2017, its course had exploded (+ 1,400%), exceeding almost 20,000 dollars for a bitcoin, before falling just as suddenly the following year by losing 75%.
Bitcoin was only worth a few cents when it was launched in February 2009 by one or more computer scientists hiding under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.
© 2020 AFP