NEW YORK, August 31, 2017 : The price of bitcoin reached a new all-time high at USD 4,703.42 this past Tuesday. Various data shows just how much bitcoin has become a popular investing and trading currency.
According to the Blockchain website, the average number of daily bitcoin transactions has reached 224,000 this month, from about 206,000 in August 2015. Data from CoinMarketCap shows that the daily trade volume of bitcoin has increased to an average of $2 billion this August, or a major jump from an average of only $86.7 million a year ago. The rally on Tuesday came after North Korea fired a missile over Japan, which caused new concerns of global political instability. "With both bitcoin and ether, we're seeing a flight to safety due to the issues in North Korea, similar to when investors previously flocked to gold out of equities during previous wars," said Andrew Keys, head of global business development at blockchain software developer ConsenSys, according to CNBC.
Chineseinvestors.com, Inc. (OTC: CIIX), MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTC: MGTI), BTCS Inc. (OTC: BTCS), Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK)
Bitcoin has been straggling with concerns of illegitimacy, or as a shadow currency used by the black markets. These concerns are being perceived more and more as a thing of the past. A report by CNBC indicates that Criminals are dropping bitcoin in favor of other digital currencies that are harder for law enforcement to use in tracking activities in across the dark web. "We're getting a lot better through law enforcement tracking those [criminals] and holding the exchanges more accountable," the Homeland Security official said. "I think [bitcoin]'s a lot more legitimate than people give it credit for."
