Bitcoin prices have climbed over 50% since bottoming out last year

by James · February 16, 2023

Few months. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Bitcoin prices have seen some very compelling gains in recent months, rising sharply as the cryptocurrency recovers from the steep declines it suffered at the end of last year.

The digital currency, which is the world’s largest by market capitalization, hit $23,950 today on CoinDesk.

By this time, the digital asset had climbed about 53% from the local low of about $15,600 it hit in November and was trading at a new five-month high, additional CoinDesk figures show.

Furthermore, it was up more than 40% since the start of this year, when bitcoin was valued near $16,500.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Even before these latest gains, Goldman Sachs had proclaimed bitcoin as the best performing asset of 2023 after conducting an analysis earlier this month.

The digital currency has seen these strong gains despite the ongoing difficulties in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, which has been reeling from difficult, high-visibility events such as the collapse of troubled FTX exchange and news of the upcoming trial of its founder and former CEO , Sam Bankman-Fried.

The price of bitcoin cratered in early November as the digital currency markets reacted to the news that rival exchange Binance, which had considered buying FTX, would not go through with this potential purchase, CoinDesk reported.

On Nov. 9, the digital currency fell to $15,625, its lowest point in nearly two years, according to the aforementioned CoinDesk article, which cites figures from the news site’s own Bitcoin Price Index.

Since then, the cryptocurrency has risen in value, even as global market participants received more information about the implications of FTX’s collapse, including the announcement that the exchange, as well as its parent company and many other affiliates, were archiving for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Furthermore, bitcoin prices have risen even as global investors learn more about the number of industrial firms exposed to FTX when the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

So far, several major players in the crypto space, including digital currency exchanges Binance and Coinbase, have disclosed their exposure to FTX, Reuters reported earlier this year.

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS and sol.

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I am a financial writer and editor with strong knowledge of asset markets and investment concepts. I have worked for financial institutions including State Street, Moody’s Analytics and Citizens Commercial Banking. An author of more than 500 publications, my work has appeared in media such as Fortune, Business Insider, Washington Post, CoinDesk and Investopedia. Previously, I created all industrial economics training for a company with more than 300 people. I have spoken at industry events around the world and given speeches on financial literacy for Mensa and Boston Rotaract. I currently have Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ether, EOS and Solana.