Earlier this month it seems that Bitcoin missed its chance of hitting the ATH when PBOC cracked down on Chinese exchanges and forced them to suspend withdrawals in order to implement better AML / KYC policies. However, Bitcoin’s price has been steadily climbing ever since the Feb 9th announcement. Today, Bitcoin’s price has hit an all time high on one of its biggest exchanges, the price reached $1098 on btc-e, breaking it’s previous peak of $1095.
As mentioned in last week’s Bitcoin price article, China’s regulation reduced its impact on Bitcoin markets and let the western exchanges take some more control. Usually, it was the Western exchanges who had premiums on Bitcoin’s price, however after PBOC’s actions, there is now a $40-50 premium to buy Bitcoins in China. Following these changes, other exchanges are seeing much more trade volume which is one prime reason why Bitcoin’s price reached an ATH on one of it’s oldest exchanges.
Bitcoin reaches ATH on BTC-E
Founded in 2011, BTC-E is currently the oldest operating Bitcoin exchange. You may wonder why the price per Bitcoin on the exchange seems significantly lower than it’s competitors. Reason being is BTC-E isn’t regulated, one can make an account using simply an email address, you do not need to provide any personal information in order to start trading. Furthermore, moving cash in and out of the exchange is difficult and takes a long time, as a result users mostly trade Bitcoins and use the exchange to hedge against the price. This creates somewhat of a large sell pressure which brings the price down.
Regardless of how low the price is compared to other exchanges, remember that even if you sell Bitcoins for cheaper, you can still use the same exchange to buy Bitcoins for cheap as well. One might argue that there are arbitration opportunities by using the exchange, however there are many complaints regarding moving cash in and out of the exchange and that it takes a long time and requires going through cumbersome process.
All Time Highs on Other Exchanges
slvbtc from r/Bitcoin has complied a useful list pointing out each exchange’s all time high.
MtGox = $1242
Bitstamp = $1163
BTC -e = $1095
Bitfinex = $1175
Huobi = ¥8000
BTC China = ¥7588
OKCoin = ¥7995
The 3 Chinese exchanges broke their 2014 ATH six weeks ago. BTC-e broke its 2014 ATH today. Just bitstamp and bitfinex left to topple. Which one will be last. Like watching dominos fall, once the last 2014 ATH is broken then its off to the races ladies and gentlemen. -slvbtc
Exciting times are ahead for Bitcoin, especially because the Bitcoin ETF decision is coming next month. If the outcome is positive, we may see a whole new spectrum of investors join the revolution. How far do you think Bitcoin’s price will climb? Do you think the Bitcoin ETF decision will be positive? Let us know in the comment section below.
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