London (AFP)
Tesla, Twitter and maybe even Amazon: The tech giants' renewed interest in bitcoin gave the cryptocurrency market a boost on Monday, after several weeks of slippage.
During Asian trading, the price of bitcoin jumped nearly 15% in less than an hour and a half, reaching $ 39,681, a high since mid-June.
Around 10:50 a.m. GMT (12:50 p.m. in Paris), bitcoin was worth $ 38,460 (+ 11.5%).
No information Monday explained this increase, which analysts attributed instead to a series of positive information in recent days.
On Wednesday, the American investment fund Ark Invest organized the "B word", an event to promote the institutional use of bitcoin.
In an online discussion, Cathie Wood, boss of Ark Invest, Elon Musk, boss of Tesla and Jack Dorsey, boss of Twitter, reaffirmed their interest in cryptocurrencies.
Mr. Musk's intervention was particularly eagerly awaited: the eccentric billionaire has often touted the merits of cryptocurrencies, but worried about the impact of bitcoin on the environment.
-Remote from China-
On Wednesday, he announced that Tesla would "very likely" start accepting bitcoin as a payment method again.
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His concerns are, according to him, lessened by the tightening of Chinese laws against bitcoin "miners".
These companies essential to the operation of the decentralized bitcoin network but greedy in electricity will relocate to regions where energy comes from less polluting sources, estimates the billionaire.
A welcome message for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, struggling recently: while bitcoin remains dizzying 290% year-on-year, it has fallen 40% since its peak reached in mid-April at nearly $ 65,000.
"Purchases have multiplied since the + The B Word + conference last week," confirms Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at ThinkMarkets, to AFP.
But market cautiousness, which moved away from risky assets due to the spread of Covid-19 last week, has kept cryptocurrency from taking off, adds Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Another tech giant has since expressed interest: on Friday, Amazon posted a recruitment ad for a cryptocurrency project manager position.
"It will start with bitcoin," says an anonymous source to the CityAM business daily.
"It's still pure speculation at the moment," said Ms. Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, however.
-Continuation uncertain-
While she considers it "likely that more and more large players will accept cryptocurrencies," she advises investors to place "only a marginal portion" of their portfolio in this sharply moving sector.
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“This morning's effervescent bitcoin price has been exaggerated by a significant number of downside bets that have been lost,” commented James Bennett of cryptocurrency analyst ByteTree on Twitter.
A first moderate upward movement prompted investors betting on a downside to liquidate their position, which can exacerbate the rise of a financial asset.
It remains to be seen in which direction the wind will blow: in recent months, efforts to regulate the decentralized bitcoin market have weighed on the price.
In addition to Chinese efforts to prevent the activity of minors as trading platforms, market regulators in Europe and the United States are increasing the number of warnings and sanctions.
"I remain a bitcoin skeptic, but by going back above $ 34,500", the cryptocurrency is benefiting from a positive trend, judges Jeffrey Halley, analyst at Oanda.
© 2021 AFP