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Bitcoin price – live: Crypto market smashes record all-time high after BTC, Ethereum and Solana surge

Bitcoin hit a new record price high on Wednesday, 20 October, prompting massive gains for Ethereum and the rest of the crypto market (Getty Images)
Bitcoin hit a new record price high on Wednesday, 20 October, prompting massive gains for Ethereum and the rest of the crypto market (Getty Images)

Bitcoin surged to a record all-time high on Wednesday, following a weeks-long price rally

The cryptocurrency is now up more than 50 per cent since the start of October, overtaking the market value of tech giants like Facebook and Tesla.

After breaking the $64,800 record reached in April, BTC continued to climb and was trading above $66,000 on Thursday morning. It marks a remarkable recovery for bitcoin, which crashed below $30,000 in July.

Other leading cryptocurrencies have also mirrored bitcoin’s gains, most notably Ethereum (ether) and Solana (SOL), which are both up more than 10 per cent over the last 24 hours. The price increases saw the overall crypto market cap also climb above its previous all-time high, reaching above $2.6 trillion.

Several prominent crypto analysts believe bitcoin is now on the second major leg of a bull run that will take it above $100,000 before the end of 2021, though others have warned another major crash could follow.

You can find all the latest news, analysis and expert price predictions in our live coverage of the crypto market.

Read More

Bitcoin price prediction model remains ‘amazingly accurate’ with less than 1% error – and forecasts record end to 2021

Key points

  • Crypto experts predict when bitcoin price will peak

  • Crypto market overtakes world’s most valuable company

  • Analyst predicts ‘parabolic’ price rally

Bitcoin price dips amid warning of over-leveraged traders

16:33 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The price of bitcoin has slid to below $63,000, having peaked earlier today at close to $67,000.

The flash crash comes amid warnings that the market was overbought during the launch of the first ever bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund earlier this week.

Crypto analyst and author Glen Goodman said that there could be a short-term dip due to over-leveraged traders buying bitcoin with funds borrowed at high interest rates.

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel laments ‘underinvesting’ in bitcoin

15:36 , Anthony Cuthbertson

PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has revealed that he regrets not investing more money in bitcoin following its latest price record.

The billionaire venture capitalist, who was one of the earliest investors in Facebook, told Bloomberg that he should follow fellow PayPal founder Elon Musk’s lead by buying a significant amount of the cryptocurrency and holding it for the long term.

“You’re supposed to just buy bitcoin,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it... I think the answers are still to go long.”

He also warned that bitcoin’s latest rally is a major concern for the traditional financial system, saying that BTC’s gains “surely tells us that we are at a complete bankruptcy moment for the central banks”.

Peter Thiel pictured in at the National Press Club on 31 October, 2016 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
Peter Thiel pictured in at the National Press Club on 31 October, 2016 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)

Bitcoin now world’s 13th largest currency

13:46 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Bitcoin’s record-breaking price rally has pushed its market cap ahead of the Swiss Franc, making it the world’s 13th most valuable currency.

Data from CoinMarketCap also ranks Ethereum (ether) in the top 25 fiat currencies, just below the Swedish Krona.

With a market cap in excess of $1.2 trillion, bitcoin is also worth more than some of the world’s most valuable companies, including Facebook and Tesla. The overall crypto market is now worth more than Apple – the world’s most valuable company – at more than $2.5 trillion.

Read the full story here.

Bitcoin overtakes Swiss Franc to become world’s 13th biggest currency

Crypto market smashes record high

10:41 , Anthony Cuthbertson

It’s been a massive 24 hours for the cryptocurrency market, with several other leading altcoins looking to follow bitcoin’s all-time high with a record-breaking price run of their own.

Ethereum is now less than $100 from its ATH, while Solana is also fast approaching its own with gains of more than 20 per cent since this time yesterday.

All of the action has pushed the overall crypto market above its previous record, breaking above $2.6 trillion for the first time in its history this morning.

 (CoinMarketCap)
(CoinMarketCap)

Jack Dorsey: 🌕

Wednesday 20 October 2021 16:53 , Adam Smith

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, a long-time advocate of crypto, tweeted a moon emoji when bitcoin hit its peak.

The emoji likely references the phrase ‘to the moon’, signifying a rapidly high rise.

Elon Musk made a similar reference in June 2021, causing an adult-themed cryptocurrency to increase nearly 400 per cent in ten minutes.

Should bitcoin EFTs even exist?

Wednesday 20 October 2021 16:01 , Adam Smith

While the first bitcoin futures exchange trade has excited many, it has its critics, including the Financial Times’ Robert Armstrong.

Armstrong says that many investors want the cryptocurrency process to operate like a standard financial product. Quoting an unnamed executive in the bitcoin fund industry, he argues that the “heart of the matter” is that investors’ pools of capital are in a 401k or brokerage accounts, and the ways to access bitcoin is outside of that system.

“Lots of investors want access and don’t want to do research into the myriad custodial options”, the executive says.

But Armstrong says that bitcoin is not a standard financial product; it is supported by complex technology and its source of value is a “vehicle for the purest speculation”, he writes.

“If you can’t be bothered to learn the unique subtleties involved in owning this stuff, you can’t possibly understand the risks, and so you should not own it at all. Bitcoin ETFs should not exist.”

Bitcoin reaches all-time high

Wednesday 20 October 2021 15:20 , Andrew Griffin

After a remarkable October, bitcoin has reached an all-time high. It’s smashed through its $64,000 previous record, and continued to trade up.

Full story here.

ProShares rings NYSE bell on first bitcoin futures ETF

Tuesday 19 October 2021 18:05 , Anthony Cuthbertson

ProShares rings the bell on the first ever bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund in the US, which has now officially launched on the New York Stock Exchange.

The price of bitcoin appears to have received a big boost already, rising by more than $1,000 to reach a new six-month high of $63,400 on CoinMarketCap’s price index just a couple of minutes ago.

This is tantalisingly close to its all-time high from mid April, which is now just over $1,000 away from being hit.

Bitcoin price hits fresh six-month high

Tuesday 19 October 2021 11:01 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Bitcoin has hit a fresh six-month price high, reaching $62,944 on Tuesday morning, according to CoinMarketCap’s price index.

It has dipped slightly in the last few minutes but anticipation of the bitcoin futures ETF remains high and some analysts are expecting more gains.

 (CoinMarketCap)
(CoinMarketCap)

Other crypto market experts are warning that the milestone could be a case of the old trading adage “buy the rumour, sell the news”.

This was the case when El Salvador introduced bitcoin as a legal form of tender in September, though it subsequently rebounded far stronger than the dip.

Bitcoin futures ETF launches today

Tuesday 19 October 2021 07:36 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Today is the day that the long-awaited, first-of-its-kind bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) launches on the New York Stock Exchange.

It’s a massive milestone for the crypto industry and will open up BTC to a whole new realm of investors, while also paving the way for more cryptocurrency ETFs in the future. There could even be a further three this month.

We’ve heard from Paolo Ardoino, CTO of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, who describes the launch as a “turning point” for bitcoin.

“As the digital token space evolves, we are seeing increased interest in the concept of a bitcoin ETF, as evidenced by some high-profile global launches. This has not only marked a turning point for the onboarding of institutional investors but is also a clear sign of bitcoin‘s maturity,” he says.

“Bitcoin ETFs may be a significant stimulant for the future of digital token uptake, bringing more investors as well as inspiring the sharing of knowledge within the space. Institutional investors are already driving volumes on exchanges and many expect adoption to skyrocket now that exposure and access to bitcoin will be so readily available.”

Bitcoin price hits all-time – in Japan

Tuesday 19 October 2021 07:22 , Anthony Cuthbertson

The price of bitcoin has hit a record all-time high on Tuesday, though not officially.

The cryptocurrency achieved the feat on an exchange in Japan, where demand appears to be soaring ahead of the launch of the bitcoin futures ETF later today in the US. Investment podcaster Preston Pysh registered bitcoin above $70,000 on one Japanese exchange, but going by CoinMarketCap’s more representative price index, BTC is still just under $2,000 away from hitting a new all-time high this morning.

Bitcoin price up more than 100% since July

Monday 18 October 2021 17:23 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Bitcoin’s remarkable gains this month mean it has now more than doubled in price since the April-July crash took it below $30,000.

After cresting and dipping in September, bitcoin has followed the form of previous years by shooting up in price in October. Historically, November has been its strongest month, with average gains of 53 per cent since 2011, while December also typically sees a significant price increase for the cryptocurrency. Many investors will be hoping it will do the same again this year to cap off a record-breaking 2021.

Crypto experts predict new record bitcoin price this week

Monday 18 October 2021 17:07 , Anthony Cuthbertson

With bitcoin still teasing its all-time high, we’ve reached out to two crypto experts to hear their thoughts on whether we’ll see a new record price high in the coming days.

“A lot of good news has already been price in, although with bitcoin’s all-time high just $2,000 away a fresh attempt to break this is very likely to happen in the short term,” says Nicholas Cawley, an analyst at foreign exchange firm DailyFX, who believes there could be “repeated fresh bitcoin highs” over the next couple of months.

You can read the full story here.

Bitcoin could be about to hit all-time record high

When will bitcoin price peak?

Monday 18 October 2021 13:22 , Anthony Cuthbertson

For many bitcoin advocates, breaking the price record in 2021 is a question of if, not when. For them, the real questions are how high will it go and when will it crash?

By one analyst’s estimations, the peak of this current market cycle will be hit at some point in mid December, as this is 150 days from the mid-cycle low seen in July – presuming the all-time high is breached.

By TechDev’s calculations, bitcoin will reach $70,000 at some point next week, before hitting $90,000 in November. There will then be a slight dip back to the $60,000 range, he claims, before a “parabolic run up” to a peak of $250,000.

How bitcoin and crypto market caps stack up

Monday 18 October 2021 12:25 , Anthony Cuthbertson

With the cryptocurrency market now above $2.5 trillion, it is now worth more than all of the world’s most valuable companies.

Bitcoin alone ranks ahead of Facebook and Tesla, with only Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Saudi Aramco, Microsoft and Apple beating its market cap. Its recent price surge means its market cap is now just $20 billion away from its all-time high.

Excluding precious metals – gold and silver have a market cap of $11.19 trillion and $1.3 trillion respectively – here’s how the top assets stack up.

Bitcoin price and crypto market tease all-time high

Monday 18 October 2021 09:41 , Anthony Cuthbertson

Bitcoin has hit a new six-month high, hitting $62,614 on Monday morning according to CoinMarketCap’s price index, leaving it less than $2,000 away from its all-time high.

It has helped push the overall crypto market cap above $2.5 trillion, which is now also teasing its own record high.

 (CoinMarketCap)
(CoinMarketCap)

The cryptocurrency space is no longer dominated by bitcoin in the same way it was when the last peak was seen back in April.

Today, BTC only represents just over 40 per cent of the total crypto market capitalisation thanks to massive gains seen by Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada) and other leading altcoins. This means we’ll likely see the crypto market hit a new high before bitcoin does.

 (CoinMarketCap)
(CoinMarketCap)

Hello and welcome...

Monday 18 October 2021 09:19 , Anthony Cuthbertson

to The Independent’s live coverage of the crypto market. Bitcoin appears to be closing in on a new all-time high on Monday after experiencing a huge price surge in the first half of October 2021.

The world’s leading cryptocurrency is up more than 40 per cent over the last two weeks, with other top cryptocurrencies like Ethereum (ether) and Cardano (ada) also seeing major gains.

We’ll have all the latest news, market analysis and expert price predictions throughout the day right here.