Comments:"Bitcoin reaches an all-time trading high of over $33 | Ars Technica"
URL:http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/02/bitcoin-reaches-an-all-time-trading-high-of-over-33/
After rising steadily over the last several months, Bitcoin has reached an all-time high according to data on Bitcoin Charts. As of this writing, Mt. Gox, the most popular Bitcoin trading site (which announced on Wednesday that its operations would move to Silicon Valley), recorded a high price of $33.22 per Bitcoin.
There’s no single explanation as to why Bitcoin has continued to rise, accelerating particularly over the last month. That said, it’s been clear that interest in the digital currency has been rapidly rising, as any regular reader of Ars knows.
It’s likely that online gambling has played a part. As we’ve reported earlier this year, one Bitcoin-based site took in $500,000 in profit in just six months in 2012—and Bitcoin gambling is set to get even bigger. For now, gambling with the cryptocurrency, like using Bitcoins in general, remains in a legal grey area (which may be part of the appeal as well).
Still, it’s been slowly gaining legitimacy in the marketplace, with groups like the Internet Archive and WordPress accepting donations and payment in the currency.
Of course, like any currency, Bitcoin is not immune to swings in the market—less than six months after hitting a high of over $30 per Bitcoin back in June 2011, the market crashed to $3.
Disclosure: Upon hearing of the all-time high today, I sold my final bitcoin at a price of $32.50.