Bitcoin Surges on the back of Facebook Support for Crypto

Bitcoin surged to a near 16-month high above $11,000 Monday, overshadowing stock, foreign exchange and commodity markets and breathing new life into a sector that many had declared moribund.

Bitcoin reached $11,280 at one point after powering through $10,000 for the first time since March last year, propelled by a huge boost from Facebook’s unveiling of its own digital unit Libra, analysts said.

Calling bitcoin’s rise a “blast from the past”, OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said the Facebook cryptocurrency launch seemed to be “legitimising the industry” which had come under scrutiny after the coin fell 80 percent from its peaks.

“Bitcoin is very much back in the headlines, as the cryptocurrency surged through $10,000 for the first time in more than a year and reminded us all of the good old days of late-2017,” Erlam said.

Bitcoin has risen about 20 percent this month alone but is still well off record levels near $20,000 seen at the end of 2017.

Expectations that G7 countries will introduce stringent rules concerning investor identities did little to dampen the new-found enthusiasm for bitcoin, noted Gary McFarlane, a cryptocurrency analyst at interactive investor.

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