Bitcoin is trading above $10,000 for the first time in over a year following Facebook's cryptocurrency announcement and strong 2019 growth
- The price of a single bitcoin exceeded $10,000 for the first time since March 2018 on Friday, according to CoinDesk.
- The milestone followed Facebook's June 18 announcement that it will introduce a digital currency, Libra, and an app, Calibra, that will allow users to send and receive the currency and use it to make purchases online.
- Bitcoin's price has experienced significant volatility during the past two years, rising to nearly $20,000 in December 2017 before falling to around $3,200 a year later.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The price of a single bitcoin exceeded $10,000 for the first time since March 2018 on Friday, according to CoinDesk.
The milestone followed Facebook's June 18 announcement that it will introduce a digital currency, Libra, and an app, Calibra, that will allow users to send and receive the currency and use it to make purchases online. Facebook's announcement came four months after JPMorgan became the first major US bank to create a digital currency.
Both moves were striking due to the significant roles the companies play in the technology and finance industries and the heated debate about the long-term prospects of bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Aside from those announcements, bitcoin has experienced strong 2019 growth despite its epic fall in 2018. It's experienced over 150% growth this year. That number far exceeds the growth of the S&P 500, gold, and US oil, which have reportedly all seen less that 20% growth, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Of course, an outsized rise is also what precipitated the bitcoin crash last year.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in September 2017 that bitcoin was a fraud and that he would fire employees who traded it. Four months later, he said he regretted those comments. Famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has compared bitcoin to rat poison, while Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has expressed enthusiasm for the digital currency.
Bitcoin's price has experienced significant volatility during the past two years. It rose to nearly $20,000 in December 2017 before falling to around $3,200 a year later.