Bitcoin price topped $3,000 on Sunday afternoon according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI), for the first time in history, continuing this year’s massive surge.
After spending much of the last week seeking direction in the $2,700 to $2,900-range, the cryptocurrency climbed to a new all-time high of $3,012.05, gaining an additional 15% this week. On Bitfinex, bitcoin traded at a lower $3,003, while on Chinese exchange OKCoin, the digital currency traded at a higher $3,185.66.
Cryptocurrency’s price was around $2,300 at the beginning of June and between $2,700-$2,850 on the second week of June after starting above $2,500 last Monday. Prices crept above $2,900 on Saturday. Bitcoin’s price jumped from $2,925 to $3,000 in just over 2 hours, on Sunday afternoon.
Increased demand from Asia-based investors is helping fuel Bitcoin’s bull run rising by more than 200 percent in value since January 2017 and easily outperforming stock market benchmarks like the S&P 500 Index and the Nasdaq composite. Bitcoin is been approved by the Japanese government as a legal method of payment, sparking a trend of adoption amid increasing awareness of bitcoin in the country.
In an interview with CNBC, Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM said that cryptocurrency was “in the first years of what is likely to be a multi-year bull market. Of course there will be corrections and even crashes along the way, but bitcoin is here to stay.”
