Bitcoin has soared past $18,000, the highest since December 20, 2017.
The price of bitcoin was trading about 8.6% higher on Wednesday morning at $18,172, passing a price it hasn’t hit since the aforementioned date, according to data from industry site CoinDesk.
Bitcoin has been on a tear in 2020, skyrocketing over 150% in a jump crypto enthusiasts have accredited to unprecedented monetary and fiscal stimulus in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as well as interest from big-name investors such as Paul Tudor Jones and Stephen Druckenmiller.
It is now moving towards the all-time high of $19,783 which it posted in a late 2017 rally that saw the values of several cryptocurrencies surge.
After hitting that milestone, it crumbled, and bitcoin plummeted to as low as $3,122 the following year.
Bitcoin’s market value — which is calculated by multiplying the total number of bitcoins in circulation by the price — now stands at $337.2 billion, higher than the $331.8 billion it hit in December 2017, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The total number of bitcoins that will ever be produced is capped at 21 million.
The cryptocurrency according to CNBC underwent a key technical event in the spring known as the “halving,” which saw the number of bitcoins rewarded to the so-called “miners” who add bitcoin transactions to its public ledger get cut in half.
