Bitcoin Price Hits $8,939 in New 2019 High: What’s Driving the Hypnotic Rally?

In the U.S. market and on strictly regulated crypto exchanges such as Bitstamp and Coinbase, the bitcoin price surpassed $8,900 to achieve a new 2019 high at $8,939. Within merely hours, the bitcoin price climbed from $8,000 to $8,939, by more than 11.7 percent against the U.S. dollar.

The stunning recovery of bitcoin can be mainly attributed to three factors:

– Rise from $3,000 to $7,000 placing bitcoin in a bull market territory, raising momentum

– Volume on regulated platforms like CME surging, indicating a significant increase in institutional interest

– Volume on exchanges and Google Trends popularity for the keyword “bitcoin” rising, signaling the rebound of interest from retail investors

Behind the three factors is likely the block reward halving of bitcoin that is expected to occur in May 2020. Every four years, the Bitcoin blockchain network experiences a halving of block rewards which declines the rate in which new BTC is produced by miners.

The crypto market has shown no signs of an imminent correction and based on the recent momentum of the market, it is entirely possible that the market continues to climb without a substantial pullback like many expected.