Bitcoin closes in on $2,000 USD

Bitcoin has enjoyed another record-breaking week as the value of a coin inches ever closer to $2,000 USD, with market cap up $4 billion USD this week alone.

At the time of press (10:30am ET, Friday), the value of a single bitcoin stands at $2,635.30 CAD and rising, according to CoinDesk’s bitcoin price index.

Japan and Korea are driving the rally, with political uncertainty and debate over the future of bitcoin's underlying technology boosting investor sentiment.

Analysts have suggested political unrest in various countries could be driving bitcoin’s boom; the Trump scandal involving Michael Flynn and the sacking of FBI Director James Comey, along with the resulting calls for impeachment, for example, may have caused a spike in US trading of the coin.



Elsewhere, Wednesday’s news of alleged corruption involving Brazilian President Michel Temer authorizing bribes to silence a witness caused the Brazilian real to plummet 6%; a corresponding lift in bitcoin trading occurred shortly thereafter.

Behind the scenes, the ‘hard fork’ debate rages on, with developers locked in discussions regarding the underlying technology of the coin; as things stand, bitcoin’s structure is struggling to cope with ever-increasing trading activity.

Although talks of a bubble are rife, given bitcoin’s meteoric rise over the last month and a half, Gatecoin's Menant told CNBC that prices should climb beyond $3,000 this year; as things stand, bitcoin’s success shows no signs of letting up.

This week, despite bitcoin’s rapid ascension, the coin – for the first time ever – lost its majority share of the crypto market cap; the combined ‘altcoins’ in circulation now account for 50.71% of trading, according to Cryptolization.