Bitcoin prices have shown resilience lately. (Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)
Bitcoin prices have shown strength lately, managing to hold onto most of their recent gains after hitting their highest value since August over the weekend.
The world’s most valuable digital currency by market capitalization, which has generated countless headlines since its inception over 13 years ago, hit $23,167.00 today, according to data from TradingView.
At this point, it was only slightly down from the multi-month high of nearly $23,300 it hit on Saturday, when it traded at its highest value since around Aug. 19 on TradingView.
After hitting the aforementioned intraday high, the cryptocurrency is up roughly 40% year-to-date and nearly 50% since falling below $15,500 on TradingView in November.
[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.]
After trading in a reasonably tight range for several weeks, bitcoin prices took off, rising from around $16,500 at the start of this year to their recent five-month high, before holding onto the majority of these latest gains. .
The digital asset has managed to show this strength in the face of the industry’s ongoing difficulties, as the FTX saga continues to unfold and crypto lender Genesis Global Capital, LLC has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 on January 19.
The organization’s holding company, Genesis Global Holdco, LLC, announced the decision in a press release, where it said it had taken this approach to “maximize value for all customers and stakeholders and strengthen its activities for the future”.
Genesis Global Capital, LLC and Genesis Global Holdco, LLC exist under the umbrella of cryptocurrency company Digital Currency Group.
Genesis Global Capital, which was due to have its first bankruptcy hearing today, according to court filings, recently generated significant visibility into the claims it owes customers of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini $900 million, a case reported by the Financial Times last month.
This financial dispute arose as a result of Gemini’s partnership with Genesis for the exchange’s Earn program, in which participants can lend certain cryptocurrencies and receive rewards.
By taking part in this offer, participants can earn more than 8% APY.
Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder and chairman of Gemini, recently threatened to take legal action against Digital Currency Group and its CEO, Barry Silbert, to resolve this litigation.
This development made headlines after troubled exchange FTX announced in November that it was deposit for bankruptcy protection.
The company had been valued at $32 billion in a funding round that took place early last year.
However, in November, Sequoia Capital, a well-known venture capital firm that had previously invested in giants like Google LLC and Apple Inc., wrote down the value of its investment in FTX to zero.
These developments all took place during a period that many have dubbed “Crypto Winter”, during which many digital currencies fell significantly from their all-time highs and startups in the space suffered from opportunities for reduced funding.
The price of bitcoin, for example, moved north from $60,000 in late 2021 to around $15,500 in November 2022 on TradingView.
Despite this, it’s worth bearing in mind that the digital currency has traded for less than the aforementioned $15,500 for much of its existence, hitting that price in 2017 as the broader market for cryptocurrency has seen very impressive gains.
Even after bitcoin’s recent lows in November, it was still considerably higher than the value it held at times, seeing as it was worth less than $0.01 in its early days.
Between 2011 and 2021, digital currency has outperformed many other asset classes, generating annualized returns of more than 230%according to analysis conducted by Charlie Bilello, chief market strategist for independent wealth management advisory firm Creative Planning.
Disclosure: I own bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS, and sol.
