TECH INDUSTRY
Bitcoin breaks $12,000 barrier for first time
The cryptocurrency’s value has risen 1,100 percent since the beginning of the year.
BY
STEVEN MUSIL
DECEMBER 5, 2017 7:32 PM PST
Roslan Rahman / AFP/Getty Images
Bitcoin has rebounded from a recent slump to notch another record valuation.
Bitcoin climbed 3.86 percent on Tuesday, crossing the $12,000-per-coin mark for the first time. At this writing, the cryptocurrency was trading at $12,116 against the US dollar, a little more than a week after passing $9,000.
Tuesday’s trading price gives bitcoin a market capitalization of $203 billion and historic rise in valuation of 1,100 percent since the beginning of the year.
Despite its bull run, the cryptocurrency’s lack of government backing and regulation has led to volatility. After crossing the $11,000 mark for the first time a week ago, the currency lost 20 percent of its value in one day.
It’s also fed concern that bitcoin is on the edge of a bubble.
“This is a bubble and there is a lot of froth. This is going to be the biggest bubble of our lifetimes,” hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz told Bloomberg at a cryptocurrency conference last week in New York.
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