The value of the bitcoin beats a new record...

After a summer marked by different crises, the cryptomonnaie has resumed its meteoric rise to reach 5247 dollars yesterday afternoon. A bitcoin was worth less than 1000 dollars at the beginning of 2017.

Shaken in recent months by internal shocks or hindered by China, the virtual currency Bitcoin has just beat its historic record by crossing the $ 5,000 threshold on Thursday, and may not stop there. Yesterday at 3:30 pm, the bitcoin was worth $ 5247.02 - a new historic high - against $ 4829.29 Wednesday at 9 pm, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

When it was launched in February 2009, a bitcoin cost only a few cents, and by the beginning of 2017 it was only $ 966. Since then, this self-regulating virtual currency, which preserves the anonymity of its owners, has constantly seen its course progress. With however some coughing, like mid-September when the bitcoin, already close to 5000 dollars, had dropped by 40% after announcements of regulation coming from China. "There was a period of uncertainty but it did not last. China accounts for more than 60% of trade and the issue of their regulation, as everywhere, has had a bigger impact, "said Greg Revenu, partner of Bryan, Garnier & Co.

The Bitcoin continues its progress despite the Chinese decisions and the split

The Chinese central bank had summoned the virtual exchange platforms based in Beijing and Shanghai, two of which, Okcoin and BTC China, controlled 22% of the world market, to stop their market operations. In Russia too, the desire to regulate trade was clearly announced, President Vladimir Putin even speaking, Wednesday, October 11, of the "risk" that could represent virtual currencies. "The summer was marked by different crises, such as the" fork "(a split in the producer and user community) and the Chinese level regulation, but the bitcoin knew how to overcome them and continue to progress. showed its resilience, "insists Jonathan Gerardin, of the firm Wavestone. In early August, a new virtual currency, bitcoin cash, had emerged due to disagreements among producers and users. Bitcoin, also considered to be a currency used for illicit activities, is based on blockchain, a technology that uses encrypted and authenticated transaction blocks that add up to each other.

The blockchain is reputed to be tamper-proof because, in order to modify information, it will have to be changed at the same time by all users, a characteristic that is of particular interest to the banking sector in particular and which partly explains the increase in the bitcoin. "The increase reflects less the value of asset transfers and more an increase in the adoption of technology," confirms Mr. Revenu, "its value is totally marginal to the potential uses that are being put in place.

Wall Street in ambush

After the recognition of the bitcoin as a separate currency by Japan and soon India, US banking giants are also moving. Goldman Sachs could be a team of traders devoted specifically to the bitcoin, a perspective "that also draws on purchases, as it indicates to Wall Street that it is now integrated, which will attract a flood of new capital, Neil Wilson, of Etx Capital. JPMorgan Chase said Thursday it was "very open to potential uses of virtual currencies that are properly regulated", while Citigroup has assembled a team in Ireland to floor "on the commercial uses of virtual currencies".

On the other hand, Beijing could relax its position: "There is some evidence that China may be ready to allow trade again, albeit with closer regulation," Neil Wilson confirms. More and more specialists are now considering a bitcoin reaching $ 100,000, or even $ 500,000 according to some. A level towards which it is "quite possible to project", judge Jonathan Girardin, insofar as "there are a limited number of bitcoins, only 21 million in circulation". "Again, the question is whether this currency is in a bubble zone," tempers however the experts of Mirabaud Securities Geneva, according to which "we can worry".

Source in french :Le Figaro