Bitcoin Price Hits 5-Week High On BlackRock, Coinbase Speculation

The bitcoin price broke several technical barriers Wednesday en route to fresh five week highs after BlackRock confirmed its interest in cryptocurrency and Coinbase announced it had gained regulatory approval to begin listing security tokens.

Bitcoin peaked just below $7,500 on Tuesday following a sudden spike in afternoon trading. The uptrend began at 13:39 UTC, with prices adding 8% in the next hour. At press time, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap had gained nearly 10% over 24 hours to trade at $7,410, according to CoinMarketCap.

Prior to the gain, the bitcoin price faced a major resistance near $6,800 - an inflection point that had capped previous rally attempts. Bitcoin not only rallied past that level, it overcame the psychologically significant $7,000 price point for the first time in over a month.

At the time of writing, bitcoin remains in a firm uptrend, though profit-taking north of $7,500 may limit momentum in the short-term.

Bitcoin's sudden spike triggered an impressive rally in altcoins, with Ethereum, Ripple XRP and bitcoin cash all reporting firm gains. Cryptocurrencies as a whole have added $26 billion compared with Tuesday, bringing the total market capitalization closer to $300 billion.

News of BlackRock's potential embrace of cryptocurrency was one of the chief drivers of the latest uptrend. On Monday, London's Financial News reported that the $6.3 trillion-dollar asset manager has assembled a working group to explore blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies, a move seen by many as a precursor to future adoption.

Meanwhile, digital currency exchange Coinbase announced it has received regulatory approval to begin listing security tokens. The green light enables the San Francisco-based exchange to expand its token offerings to include assets the SEC deems to be securities.

This article was written by Sam Bourgi. It's produced by Hacked.com, which is powered by CCN.com.