Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Bitcoin’s latest boom sends it scorching past $9,000

Jon Martindale
By

bitcoin stock
Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS/Getty Images
Despite increased competition from other cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is still the king. Tech Crunch reports that the online currency has skyrocketed in value soaring past $9,000. The Bitcoin market is now valued at more than $152 billion, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

This rapid growth has put Bitcoin on relatively equal footing with some of the world’s largest companies. There are indeed some issues with comparing Bitcoin to traditional corporations, but it does highlight just how much the cryptocurrency has grown in recent years.

Recommended Videos

Depending on who you ask, Bitcoin’s status as the most prominent cryptocurrency in the world was never in doubt. It has faced some challenges in 2017, most notably the Bitcoin Cash hard fork, and a recent shuttering of Bitcoin trading in China. But that appears to have done little to stymie Bitcoin’s growth.

Related

At the start of 2017, a single Bitcoin would have cost you just over $1,000 — quite high, actually, considering it was less than half that amount the previous year. But that peak proved to be just the start of the currency’s latest boom, with explosive interest sending it to new heights within months.

If there have been so many problems with the currency this year though, why the latest bubble? Ars believes it could be Bitcoin’s use as a foundation for the initial coin offerings (ICO) of new cryptocurrencies. While buying a new currency with real-world money isn’t easy, Bitcoin’s intrinsic ease of transfer means it’s a great interim medium for transactions with new coins. Buying Bitcoin in order to buy newer coins only serves to drive up its value.

With a myriad of different cryptocurrencies now in use around the world — including one designed exclusively for dentistry — there’s plenty of investment in Bitcoin to be had as a secondary aspect of their ICOs. Anyone who has looked at Bitcoin’s history will expect a bursting of this current bubble, though. Traditionally, Bitcoin value rises amid new interest, reaching new heights only to crash down again shortly after as confidence waivers, before gradually making its way back up again.

Although it’s never a guarantee and great caution should be taken if investing heavily in something as volatile as Bitcoin, its rises and falls in value have become more predictable as time goes on.

Updated on 10-26-2017: Updated to reflect the news that Bitcoin broke the $9,000 mark and has a market value of more than $152 billion.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale
Computing Coordinator
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
Facebook Libra vs. Bitcoin
Facebook Libra fake physical token

There are a lot of cryptocurrencies out there, but it surprised a lot of people when Facebook made headlines by announcing its own. Libra has been available to purchase since 2019, but many people still aren’t sure whether they should take the plunge and buy a few shares. 

Luckily, we’ve gone ahead and done a lot of the research for you. Read more about how Libra compares to a popular currency like Bitcoin.
Availability and history
Bitcoin's white paper was originally released in 2008, with the first Bitcoin being mined in 2009. Today you can buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin on a variety of different exchanges and with millions of individuals privately, all over the world.

Read more
What is Bitcoin mining?
what is bitcoin mining

Bitcoin mining is far removed from the average Bitcoin owner these days, but that doesn't change how important it is. It's the process that helps the cryptocurrency function as intended and what continues to introduce new Bitcoins to digital wallets all over the world.

Collecting cryptocurrency can be boiled down to a simple premise: "Miners," as they are known, purchase powerful computing chips designed for the process and use them to run specifically crafted software day and night. That software forces the system to complete complicated calculations -- imagine them digging through layers of digital rock. If all goes to plan, the miners are rewarded with some Bitcoin at the end of their toils.
Why do we need mining?
Bitcoin works differently from traditional currencies. Where dollars, pounds, and euros, for instance, are handled by banks and financial institutions that collectively confirm when transactions occur, Bitcoin operates on the basis of a public ledger system. In order for transactions to be confirmed -- to avoid the same Bitcoin from being spent twice, for example -- a number of Bitcoin nodes, operated by miners around the world, need to give it their seal of approval.

Read more
The affordable HTC Exodus 1s puts a full Bitcoin node in your pocket
HTC Exodus 1s

HTC has just announced a new, more affordable version of its Exodus 1 smartphone -- a device that comes with a built-in hardware wallet for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The new HTC Exodus 1s costs 219 euros (around $244) and allows owners to buy, sell, send, receive, lend, and borrow cryptocurrency directly from the device. The HTC Exodus 1s also boasts software tools that enable it to run a full Bitcoin node. This functionality is built atop a basic, budget Android phone.

"We are providing the tools for access to universal basic finance; the tools to have a metaphorical Swiss bank in your pocket," Phil Chen, decentralized chief officer at HTC said in a press release. "Full nodes are the most important ingredient in the resilience of the Bitcoin network and we have lowered the barrier to entry for any person to run a node, which is simply a computer, mobile in our case, participating in the global Bitcoin network that propagates transactions and blocks everywhere, which is the foundation and fundamental definition of a peer-to-peer cash system."

Read more