Bitcoin Passes $70,000 Only to Plummet Again

Bitcoin reached a new all-time high Friday morning, just days after it broke a previous high. The cryptocurrency peaked at $70,136.33, according to CoinDesk. As soon as it established a new high, Bitcoin fell by thousands of dollars minutes later.

This up-and-down rollercoaster has been the norm for the past few weeks. Bitcoin traders will be active in the morning causing the price to go up and up, and then Bitcoin owners want to cash in their crypto causing the price to drop quite dramatically. In just an hour after passing $70,000 Friday morning, the value of Bitcoin dropped back below $67,000. This goes to show that the volatility of cryptocurrency is still very real.

It’s been a big year for Bitcoin. The crypto coin’s value started at just over $42,200 on Jan. 1. Its meteoric rise in the first three months of the year comes in part due to the US Securities and Exchange Commission approving several Bitcoin ETFs, which gave the cryptocurrency a bit more security and increased interest by financial firms.

Even with hitting its all-time high, Bitcoin in 2024 isn’t as valuable as it was when the price of one Bitcoin hit $68,982.20 in Nov. 2021. In fact, today’s Bitcoin is worth several thousand dollars less than it was almost three years ago. To reach an all-time high when adjusting for inflation, Bitcoin would need to top out at $76,544.11 to beat its high in 2021. Maybe it’ll get there soon enough, or maybe this current crypto hype cycle will cause another bubble to burst.