While we’re sure the majority of you are tired of hearing about it, the Bitcoin price has once again reached new highs of over US$63,000 (AU$83,000) as the entire cryptocurrency market braces for Coinbase to go public on the NASDAQ.
The San Francisco-based exchange platform – which boasts of a 56 million strong verified userbase – is on track for a direct listing with an initial valuation of over $100 billion. Naturally, given how Coinbase is one of the largest platforms of its kind, the flow on effect has been tremendous.
Beyond the Bitcoin price, meme token Dogecoin returned in force, surging by as much as 114% this week to $0.1446, and effectively pushing its market capitalisation past US$17 billion; Dogecoin has experienced growth in the way of over 4000% during 2021 alone. The likes of Ether and Ripple have also been rallying to achieve records in their own right, while general crypto confidence has mooned, with almost 400k early adopters flocking to new DeFi token SafeMoon in its first month. According to Forbes, the combined value of the entire world’s cryptos are now valued at well over $2 trillion.
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Although many will happily point out we’re collectively ignoring the earmarks of another bubble, it’s hard to deny momentum isn’t on the side of the disruptors – nor can any of the major players afford to be complacent.
Recently, making good on his pledge, Elon Musk announced you can now purchase Tesla products using Bitcoin with the aim to increase his company’s initial US$1.5 billion (AU$1.95 billion) investment.
A few months prior, North America’s very first Bitcoin ETF – Purpose Bitcoin ETF (TSX: BTCC) – saw approximately $165 million worth of trades on its debut… $80 million from the first hour alone.
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And on an everyday level, Apple Pay has enabled users to spend their hard-earned hard-mined Bitcoin in stores and online with the introduction of BitPay Prepaid Mastercard support to Apple Wallet. Effectively, the card and its brand new Apple Pay integration allows everyday consumers to instantly convert cryptocurrency into dollars they can spend anywhere Mastercard debit is accepted.
“We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card who are always looking for new places and ways to spend their crypto,” says Stephen Pair, BitPay CEO.
“Adding Apple Pay and soon Google and Samsung Pay makes it easy and convenient to use the BitPay Card in more places from day-to-day items to luxury purchases.”
Currently available in the US, BitPay Prepaid Mastercard support is expected to roll out here in Australia soon enough.
What a time to be alive, eh?
