The world’s largest and most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, soared to $50,000 in value as investors and traders buoy the cryptocurrency to levels seen earlier this year.
Renewed confidence in the coin and has been reflected in its steady growth toward a much-anticipated return to a one trillion dollar cap. Bitcoin was lifted above the $50k threshold this morning at approximately 4am BST, when the coin jumped to $50,084.44.
The boost to Bitcoin’s price has been mirrored in crypto prices across the board, with Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin and Stellar all trading upon Monday 23 August.
Climbing cryptocurrency prices also come as online payment giant PayPal announced a new service allowing UK customers to buy, trade and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin cash.
Here are the latest prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and more today as cryptocurrency prices rise.
How much is Bitcoin worth today?
As of 11am, Bitcoin’s price today (23 August) was fluctuating around $50,303.86 or £36,842.04 according to CoinDesk.
The cryptocurrency’s market cap likewise stood at around $946.08 billion or £693.45bn.
The surge in price brings Bitcoin one step closer to returning to its all time high price of $64,000 which it reached in April.
Since then, the currency has been plagued with higher levels of volatility as states worldwide sought to clamp down on the rapid rise of crypto trading and mining.
In June, the Chinese Government cracked down on considerable crypto mining operations taking place in the Sichuan province and demanded that Chinese banks and payment channels stop supporting decentralised and anonymous crypto transactions.
This saw Bitcoin prices tumble to below $30,000 in a dramatic plummet from its soaring success.
The cryptocurrency has continued to rise and fall as other global administrations and regulators mull legislation to curb increased crypto activity often attributed to laundering and crime.
Following the Chinese state’s move, countries like South Korea also pledged to tackle the rise in money laundering taking place via cryptocurrency, while the Metropolitan Police announced that it had successfully closed in on a huge UK cryptocurrency money-laundering operation.
July saw the Met seize a cryptocurrency operation valued at £180million in the UK’s largest cryptocurrency seizure to date.
In turn, cryptocurrency exchange platforms such as Binance have been feeling the heat across the world as regulators and governments have started to pay close attention to the operations of such platforms in the wake of the global crackdown on crypto.
The result of this saw Bitcoin’s highest prices sliced in half in June, with the coin struggling to break out of the low to mid $30k price range until it received a welcome boost from Tesla founder Elon Musk in his appearance at major Bitcoin conference in July.
The bullish rise and increased confidence in Bitcoin will likely see it remain at prices around $50k threshold but with increased resistance as it looks ahead to regaining the $14,000 between its current price and April’s all time high.
What are Ethereum, Dogecoin and Ripple worth today?
With all coins tending to move in tandem with Bitcoin, Ethereum was trading up by more than 2% on the last 24 hours at $3,345.55, or £2,446.17, at 12.45pm on Monday (23 August).
A popular cryptocurrency synonymous with the rising crypto trend of NFTs, Ethereum has an all time high of $4,382.73 which it reached in May’s cryptocurrency boom, but it has struggled to return to this peak since.
The hype surrounding popular memecoin Dogecoin had appeared to diminish recently as new altcoins took centre stage, but it has likewise shown considerable growth – trading at $0.324024 (£0.236917) at 12.50pm on Monday.
Meanwhile, Cardano (ADA) prices are fluctuating around $2.83 (£2.07), XRP Ripple at $1.28 (£0.939018) and Stellar at $0.384401 (£0.281062) as of 1.15pm on Monday.
ADA is continuing to climb in price as traders look to lift the digital currency toward a new $3 threshold and all time high.
Cardano has increased by more than 1000% in value in the year to date according to CoinDesk’s price index, with fans eagerly awaiting the Alonzo upgrade set to boost the currency with smart contract functionality.
What is PayPal’s new UK crypto service?
Having launched its cryptocurrency service last September to allow customers to buy, sell and hold four cryptocurrencies on the platform, PayPal has announced that it is expanding the service to the UK.
Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and Ethereum will be available to British customers on the PayPal app and desktop site from this week onwards.
According to PayPal, customers will be able to track real-time price information for cryptocurrencies and access educational content to create a safer experience of buying or trading decentralised digital currencies.
“The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives— including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, vice president and general manager of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies at PayPal.
“Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the UK to explore cryptocurrency.
He added: “We are committed to continue working closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support—and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”
