London (AFP)
The price of bitcoin exceeded $ 40,000 on Thursday for the first time in its history, benefiting from the optimism of the markets related to the certification of the election of Joe Biden in the United States, and continuing its spectacular surge in recent weeks.
Around 6:50 p.m. GMT, the main cryptocurrency was trading at $ 38,950, up 6.52% on the session, after rising shortly before to around $ 40,380, according to prices compiled by Factset, in an extremely volatile market for two months.
"An important price threshold has been reached and bitcoin", decentralized and not dependent on central banks, "has proven itself as an asset," said Naem Aslam, analyst at Ava Trade.
“Now everyone knows bitcoin and everyone wants a piece of it,” he adds, knowing that individuals can buy a portion of it.
However, he specifies that "of course, it is the institutional investors who are leading this boom".
The price of bitcoin broke all-time high at the end of 2020, and only hit the $ 30,000 mark on Saturday, and 35,000 on Wednesday, prompting many observers to advise individual investors of caution in the face of a surge that could raise fears of a bubble with a correction to the key.
“Investors continue to ride the cryptocurrency bandwagon that seems to be gaining more and more interest now that the US economy is on track to benefit from a fiscal stimulus package from the Biden administration in its first 100 days ", notes Edward Moya, Oanda analyst.
"When it comes down again, it will hurt, but we may have to wait a little longer," notes Craig Erlam, another Oanda analyst.
"It's starting to be worrying, it's not at all the market of a few weeks ago, the correction is inevitable", adds a European analyst interviewed by AFP who wishes to remain anonymous.
For several market participants, bitcoin represents a form of digital gold, a way to guard against inflation that could be created by the ultra-accommodative monetary measures adopted by many central banks, the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) in head.
JPMorgan analysts estimate that bitcoin could reach $ 146,000, provided its volatility subsides to attract investors who currently prefer gold, which is more stable.
Those of Societe Generale, for their part, wonder if bitcoin will succeed in competing with gold, which has won the confidence of investors over its 3,000-year history.
Another medium-term hypothesis for cryptocurrencies, according to them: "if the recent increase is reversed in the coming months, we will probably talk about the pandemic bitcoin bubble".
At the end of 2017, individuals flocked to this currency created by anonymous people in 2009, but after several months of increase, its price collapsed in December and early 2018, and many investors who arrived late in the race had lost. their stake.
Over the years, far from joining the gallery of forgotten assets once their bubble has exploded, bitcoin has seen its price rise again, and is now attracting more and more professional investors, impressed by the resilience of cryptocurrencies.
© 2021 AFP