Bitcoin Erases Covid-19 Panic, Rises Over 100 Percent in 7 Weeks to Near US$9,000

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After starting a bullish trend earlier this week, the Bitcoin gained momentum last night, climbing around ten percent on Thursday morning, April 30th, thus obliterating the drop recorded in March due to investors’ panic over the coronavirus.

By 12:30 PM, the largest crypto-currency in the world had accumulated gains of 5.8 percent in 24 hours, to US$8,870, while in Brazil the appreciation was 5.7 percent, to R$47,990.

As a result, the Bitcoin returns to its level in late February, before the market collapsed with the risk flight made by investors as the cases of Covid-19 increased around the world.

Now, the digital currency has accumulated gains of 23 percent in 2020, and since the minimum of US$4,106 reached on March 12th, Bitcoin has appreciated 116 percent.

However, this Thursday’s trend, which is different from the most recent hikes, is not widespread. At the same time, the Ethereum was up 1.26 percent to US$213, while the Ripple (XRP) was down 1.09 percent to US$0.219486. Of the ten largest cryptoactives, three were down, with the Bitcoin recording the highest climb.

While traditional markets also show some relief after the peak of the coronavirus panic in March, the stock markets are still far from resetting their losses from the current crisis, while the Bitcoin seems to have already put that behind.

As a result, investors are now turning to the most anticipated event of the year in the crypto market: halving. Expected to occur around May 12th, this event will halve the miners’ block production rewards, thus reducing the bitcoin supply.

This is the third time Bitcoin is halved – halving occurs every 210,000 blocks are generated in the blockchain network. In the first two occasions, the digital currency recorded a sharp appreciation in the 12 months following the event and now several experts believe that the same could happen, although it is not a market consensus.