The price of Bitcoin hit a record high on Wednesday, after PayPal announced it would integrate the cryptocurrency into its online payments platform.
Bitcoin's price rose more than 5% after the Paypal news, adding $1,000 to its total gains from last week. It is currently at $12,400.
PayPal said customers will be able to pay using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies at the 26 million merchants in network starting next year.
As the number one online payment platform, bitcoin's reach will extend to its 346 million customers worldwide.
“Our global reach, digital payments expertise , two-way network , and rigorous security and compliance controls provide us with the opportunity and responsibility to facilitate the understanding, redemption, and interoperability of these new means of exchange ,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.
Bitcoin remains a long way from the highs seen in late 2017, when its value reached $20,000, but the latest gains come just seven months after bitcoin was hovering below $5,000.
Some analysts have attributed the price increase since March to global economic uncertainty caused by the COVID -19 pandemic .
“The ongoing – and increasing – global political, economic and social unrest suggests that there will be a price before the end of the year,” Nigel Green, chief executive of financial advisory firm deVere Group, told The Independent.
“Like gold, bitcoin is expected to maintain its value or even increase in value when other assets fall ,thus allowing investors to reduce their losses. Investors will increase exposure to decentralized, non-sovereign, secure digital currencies, such as bitcoin, to protect them from potential issues in traditional markets.”
“There is a growing sense that we are poised to experience a mini-boom similar to what we saw in late 2017.”
Other analysts warned that the volatile nature of bitcoin means investors will see sudden price jumps from now on.
Simon Peters, multi-asset analyst at online trading platform eToro, told The Independent: “The focus will be on how the price reacts to $12,000, given that we are not convinced that we will remain above the level this year. Before investors look to the next period, we need to see if the price remains above $12,000 for a long period.”
