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Bitcoin nears $8,000 benchmark as massive cryptocurrency price spike prompts some head-scratching
After an extensive slump since the end of last year, Bitcoin prices have now spiked to a nine-month high of almost $8,000, leaving analysts and enthusiasts questioning what might have caused the sudden uptick.
Sitting at around $5,000 at the beginning of May, prices had surged by nearly 40 percent within a single week as of Monday. Despite slight corrective fluctuations, Bitcoin appears to be on course to break the $8,000 limit, having already surpassed the current yearly highs.
READ MORE: Bitcoin hits fresh 2019 highs, driving other cryptocurrencies up
According to Coindesk price charts, this is the sharpest increase the cryptocurrency has seen since July of last year when it rose over $2,000 in under two weeks, which has naturally led to a huge amount of speculation about what is driving the current market.
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While no single factor can explain what led to the increase, prominent crypto-analyst Alex Krüger suggested that the trend appears to indicate large, institutional and systematic buying.
What drove $BTC up this week?
A handful of large players, that started buying in waves. Systematic buying.
Clues to reach that conclusion can be found in volume, price action, funding, and futures basis and term structure. May expand on this later.
Not retail driven.
— Alex Krüger (@krugermacro) May 12, 2019
Numerous commentators on Twitter attributed the change to rising tensions between Washington in Beijing as trade war negotiations took a turn for the worse on Monday.
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