September saw crypto-currency Bitcoin cross the $5,000 threshold on CoinDesk’s price index for the first time, the equivalent of £3,862. Whilst its value has since dipped, trading at $4,367.35 (£3,349.74) at the time of writing, the increase has led to the total value of publicly traded crypto-currencies to more than $176 billion.
The record high marks a major surge for Bitcoin, which traded for under $1,000 at the beginning of 2017 and which had been feared to crash even lower than that, due to reports of an internal war over its future just a few months ago. However, since many of Bitcoin’s developers and miners (those who contribute computing power to authorise transactions) implemented a compromise plan, which allowed more transactions to be handled per minute, the currency’s value has seen a significant boost.
The creation of the new virtual currency Bitcoin Cash without disrupting the original asset has also helped. Bitcoin’s climb above the $5,000 mark has been linked to the additional media attention these events attracted. Even though it has since dipped below this figure, the currency has been predicted by some to continue rising, at least in the medium term.
