29 Apr Bitcoin tops $8,000 for first time since March amid halving hype
Excitement over Bitcoin’s upcoming halving and an overall risk-on environment are pushing up cryptocurrencies, with the largest token reaching its highest level since before the coronavirus-induced crash.
Bitcoin gained as much as 8.7 per cent to $8,406, according to composite prices on Bloomberg. Other cryptocurrencies also advanced, with Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin up more than 6.5 per cent each.
Cryptocurrencies have moved in tandem with riskier assets — stocks are up more than 30 per cent — over the past month but many crypto fans are also pointing to Bitcoin’s so-called halving, which reduces the number of rewards miners receive. Ahead of the token’s last two halvings (it’s sometimes referred to as a halvening), it surged, with some enthusiasts positing the same could happen this time around.
“The Bitcoin halving in under two weeks may explain some of the bullish activity by speculators,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, wrote…