Value of bitcoins in circulation hits record high of $14bn

[grarpamp]

Price per coin at $875 as cryptocurrency’s value doubles in a year,
with experts linking it to depreciation of Chinese yuan
The total value of all bitcoins in circulation hit a record high above
$14bn (£11bn) on Thursday, as the web-based digital currency jumped 5%
to its highest levels in three years after more than doubling in price
this year.
The price of one bitcoin reached $875 on the Europe-based Bitstamp
exchange, its strongest level since January 2014, putting the
cryptocurrency on track for its best daily performance in six months.
That compared with levels around $435 at the start of the year, with
many experts linking bitcoin’s rise with the steady depreciation of
the Chinese yuan, which has slid almost 7% in 2016.
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Data shows the majority of bitcoin trading is done in China, so any
increase in demand from there tends to have a significant impact on
the price.
The web-based bitcoin currency can move money across the globe quickly
and anonymously with no need for a central authority. That makes it
attractive to those wanting to get around capital controls, such as
China’s.
The currency is still some way off the peaks it scaled in late 2013,
when it traded as high as $1,163 on the Bitstamp exchange.
But because more bitcoins continue to be added to the system,
currently at a rate of 12.5 every 10 minutes, its total value – or
“market cap” – on Thursday surpassed the 2013 peak of $14.01bn. That
puts its total value at about the same as that of an average FTSE 100
company.
Charles Hayter, the founder of data analysis website CryptoCompare,
said bitcoin had been helped higher by demonetisation in India, and by
global political uncertainty.
“If that trend continues, bitcoin is a good thematic play on the
fracturing of our global norms as a flight to safety,” he said.