For the first time in its history, bitcoin has passed the $50,000 threshold according to data from CoinMarketCap. The latest milestone comes just a week after Tesla announced that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and was working to allow the purchase of its vehicles using bitcoin as a payment option.
Alongside Tesla’s announcements, the banks JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have reportedly been looking at getting involved with cryptocurrencies; this latest development comes despite criticism of bitcoin by JPMorgan head Jamie Dimon several years ago who said he’d fire employees that traded in digital currencies.
The price of bitcoin has hit a lot of new milestones in the past several years with 2017 being a monumental year of the cryptocurrency’s growth. Over the last several months, the cryptocurrency saw a big increase in its value which attracted new interest, including from businesses like Tesla and the aforementioned banks.
With the corporate backing it now has, more people will likely come to see its usefulness and the barriers to entry will be lowered as new products allowing the easy acquisition and spending of bitcoin come to market. It’s not clear what it means for the price of bitcoin but some experts believe it will rise in value in the future, though, not necessarily immediately.
If you are interested in buying bitcoin, you should make sure that you only buy what you can afford to lose. While it doesn’t look likely, bitcoin’s price is volatile and could drop to zero overnight and you’d lose all the money you invested. Additionally, you should ensure you familiarise yourself with tax rules around bitcoin in your country because governments are now more up-to-date on cryptocurrencies and want their slice of the money you make.