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Today the price of one bitcoin is about $44,770, or R655,674. It rose steadily through 2020, gaining pace from November, and is now up about 352% since January last year. But the market was given an electric shock this week with the news that carmaker Tesla had invested $1.5-billion in bitcoin, making it the biggest investment by a mainstream corporation into the popular cryptocurrency. In addition, the company has plans to accept the digital currency as payment for its products, joining the likes of Microsoft, AT&T and Pizza Hut.
Of course, the recent price jump reignited old fears that bitcoin is subject to speculation – Elon Musk has been punting bitcoin all year – and market watchers are now predicting that what we are watching is a repeat of the 2017 bubble. A crash, they say, is inevitable.
Fed maintains monetary policy that helped bitcoin grow as BTC’s decentralization improves
Image via Unsplash.
CryptoCompare data shows the price of Bitcoin (BTC) moved from around $34,000 to a low under the $30,000 mark before the cryptocurrency’s price recovered. It’s now trading at $34,000. BTC has been ranging between $30,000 and $40,000 for about a month now.
Ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, started the week above $1,400 but dropped to little over $1,200 before recovering. It’s now trading at $1,350 as traders are seemingly moving toward alternative cryptocurrencies.
This week the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, revealed it was holding benchmark interest rates near zero following the conclusion of a two-day meeting, and said it would continue to buy at last $120 billion of bonds each month “until substantial further progress has been made toward the Committee’s maximum employment and
Bitcoin Ecosystem Expands With Sovryn Launch of Defi App and $2.1M Raise
The use cases for bitcoin (BTC) continue to expand as projects push the limits of how the decentralized currency can be utilized. The latest initiative, a decentralized finance (defi) app from Sovryn, allows bitcoin to be used as collateral for issuing stablecoins, trading, borrowing, lending and generating yield.
The platform is set to launch following completion of a $2.1 million raise led by Greenfield One, Collider Ventures and Monday Capital. It will be hosted on RSK, a Bitcoin-based platform secured by the network’s miners, that introduces smart contracts that were once the preserve of Ethereum.