THE price of bitcoin has surged past $10 000 growing 90,68% in the 34 day period ending yesterday with no slowdown in the near future on the back of increased demand for the cryptocurrency both locally and internationally.
BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA
Bitcoin was priced at $10 529,66 yesterday morning, according to data on Canadian-based online foreign exchange tools and services company XE.com.
The price of bitcoin flew past $18 000 to register $18 500 on local bitcoin exchange, Golix.
Partner at Flocash Zimbabwe and investor Taurai Chinyamakobvu said demand was driving the bitcoin price up locally and internationally.
“Bitcoin prices are a function of supply and demand. It means that buyers are prepared to pay more for bitcoins and sellers want more from their bitcoins. In short, there is increasing demand for bitcoin as the crypto-currency becomes more and more mainstream,” he said.
Chinyamakobvu is also involved in Golix’s running.
The growth in the price of bitcoin saw a 28,39% increase in the last seven days from $8 201,21.
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“Always recall that bitcoin has scarcity build in its mechanism — this makes the currency deflationary rather than inflationary, so the price generally goes up as demand increases,” Chinyamakobvu said.
“It is all about more people demanding Bitcoin and bidding the price up. Just remember that a bitcoin exchange is simply a price discovery mechanism.”
Since the bitcoin fork that occurred on October 24 saw the price drop to $5 522,15696 from a peak of $6 000 a few days earlier, the price has been on the ascent as more countries are looking to regulate the cryptocurrency.
A fork is a change in the software of digital currency that creates two separate versions of the blockchain with a shared history thus lowering the value of bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency analysts have attributed this surge to a massive user adoption from hedge funds, soon-to-be-released futures markets and further increments in the number of users.
Bitcoin is already legal in about 67 countries that include, among others, the United States, Japan and Australia.
