Bitcoin passes the $60,000 mark for the first time

Bitcoin crossed the $60,000 mark for the first time in its history on Saturday, boosted, analysts said, by the US stimulus package.

According to the specialized site CoinMarketCap, the cryptocurrency rose to 60,197 dollars at 12:34 GMT and continued to oscillate around this symbolic threshold early Saturday afternoon.

Bitcoin currently keeps pushing its records and has tripled in value over the past three months: it was still worth only $20,000 in mid-December.

In recent days, "bitcoin has climbed as investors expect the imminent arrival of checks" provided for consumers in the U.S. stimulus plan, explained Friday in a note the analyst Neil Wilson, Markets.com.

Americans are expected to receive the first checks and transfers of $1,400 per person in the $1.9 trillion plan this weekend, ratified by Joe Biden on Thursday, the administration said Friday.

"The U.S. stimulus checks will allow small investors to put some of their funds into bitcoin," also judges Naeem Aslam, an analyst at AvaTrade, who says he expects the progression to continue "given that buying bitcoin has become much easier now."

The exponential growth of the cryptocurrency is worrying some market watchers, who do not rule out a sharp correction, or even the bursting of a bubble.

While some are wary of the volatility of the bitcoin market, others believe that the situation is far different from 2017, when prices had climbed with even more gusto before crashing in early 2018.

In addition to investment funds and a few companies such as U.S. automaker Tesla, which has invested $1.5 billion in the cryptomoney, many individuals are buying fractions of bitcoins, taking advantage of the many platforms that have flourished in recent years.

Source: AFP