AtlantisFX | Bitcoin jumped over the psychologically significant $ 13,000 mark on Wednesday, returning to its record $ 20,000 hit less than two years ago.
From its session low of $ 11,747.30, Bitcoin rose 14.55 percent to $ 13,321.
Responsible for the rocket-like rise of the world's oldest cryptocurrency is the increased institutional interest in the Facebook plans for their own cyber-devise, says Craig Erlam, crypto expert at broker Oanda.
"Bitcoin has been slowly increasing in its relative proportions in recent months, but the Facebook plans for in-house currencies have been a major reason for the recent rally," said Erlam.
However, as the well-informed Wall Street Journal found, institutional investors last week held well over 14 percent more short than long posito on the CME Bitcoin futures. This signals that the recent uptrend will be mainly supported by retail investors.
Some other investors claim that the recent rise in Bitcoin was due to the broad dollar weakness. The US Federal Reserve recently opened the door for a rate cut in July. That burdened the greenback. Bitcoin is mainly traded in US dollars. If the dollar falls, Bitcoin will be cheaper for buyers outside the dollar area. That drives the price.
Bitcoin's market capitalization rose 43 percent to $ 235 billion last week, while total market capitalization increased 30 percent to $ 377 billion.