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The representative virtual asset (cryptocurrency) bitcoin market price exceeded 40 million won, again hitting the highest price. After surpassing the 30 million won mark on the 27th, it surged to over 10 million won in just 11 days.
According to the virtual asset exchange Upbit, the bitcoin market price on the morning of the 8th rose nearly 10% from the previous day, soaring to 4159 million won. Accordingly, the market cap of Bitcoin reached 750 trillion won, close to the market cap of Tesla (about 780 trillion won), the world’s largest electric vehicle maker.
The surge in the bitcoin price is attributed to the success of the US Currency Supervisory Service (OCC) on the 4th, allowing banks to use stablecoins (virtual assets linked to currency values) for payment and settlement.
The US Bloomberg News predicted that “the stablecoin regulation proposed by OCC may bring the virtual asset market closer to mainstream finance.”
In addition, a large-scale bitcoin purchase process led by institutional investors in the United States continued from last year, and the steady demand was also positively affected.
Grayscale Investment, a U.S. virtual asset investor, newly bought 72,950 pieces (about 2.446.3 billion won) of bitcoins last month alone. It is reported that a total of 18 billion dollars (about 19,5557 billion) worth of assets increased last year, most of which increased due to the new purchase of bitcoins.
MicroStrategy, a NASDAQ listed company, purchased about $420 million (471.9 billion won) worth of bitcoin twice in August and September. On the 21st, it bought an additional bitcoin worth $650 million (about 715 billion won).
However, the opinions of experts were mixed over the direction of the market price.
In a report to institutional investors, Tom Fitzpatrick, managing director of Citibank, said, “Bitcoin price will reach 318,000 dollars this year (about 366 million won).” It can lead,” he predicted.
Nicholas Panigirchoglu, JPMorgan investment strategist, said, “If Bitcoin is to be close to the size of private investment in gold, its market capitalization must increase 4.6 times. In this case, the theoretical long-term target price is $146,000 (approximately). 159 million won)” analyzed.
Hashed CEO Kim Seo-joon said, “Since February of last year, institutional investors began withdrawing out of the exchange for the purpose of long-term holdings of bitcoin. As the sell-side liquidity crunch without bitcoin sales intensified, the market price rose. “The price of bitcoin will be up to about 100,000 dollars (18.68 million won) this year.”
Peter Seef, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, said, “People who invest in bitcoin only buy bitcoin to sell it at a higher price, so it is very different from gold that is actually used in many ways.” Those who invest a lot of money in coins will lose more money. Ultimately, if the value of bitcoin becomes zero, the loss for all investors is equal to 100%.”
Reporter Kim San-ha, Hankyung.com [email protected]
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