Prices of the world’s oldest cryptocurrency, bitcoin, topped the $51,500 level on Wednesday on reports that the US-based investment banking giant Goldman Sachs is restarting its crypto desk.
According to media reports, Goldman Sachs Group Inc has restarted its cryptocurrency trading desk and will begin dealing in bitcoin futures and non-deliverable forwards for clients from next week. The development comes on the back of recent endorsements from US-based financial services corporation Fidelity Investment and investment bank Citi group.
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“Bitcoin has gained some momentum. A top executive at Fidelity compared bitcoin to gold and Goldman Sachs is considering restarting its crypto trading desk after three years. Overall, it looks like bitcoin holders would soon be in for a treat as there are multiple indicators that may further push prices up, including a recovery in US stocks," said Ashish Singhal, chief executive officer and co-founder, CoinSwitch Kuber, cryptocurrency investment platform.
At 5.30pm IST, bitcoin was at $51,373.47, up 4.7%, after hitting a low of $47,462.13 and a high of $51,792.17 in the past 24 hours, as per cryptocurrency tracker CoinGecko.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency hit its all-time high of $58,640 on February 21, but as the rally looked stretched, prices slipped to a low of $43,343 last week, correcting more than 25%. With the latest leg of recovery, the digital currency is around 12% away from its lifetime high.
“The crypto market witnessed price correction after bitcoin crossed the $58,000 mark. The market is moving towards stability and will reward the long-term investors with a horizon of two-three years," said Shivam Thakral, CEO, BuyUcoin.
According to Thakral, the newsmaker of the day is digital currency cardano (ADA), which has jumped more than 22% in the last seven days to become the third-largest cryptocurrency in the world by market capitalization, ahead of binance coin.
Meanwhile, the second-biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, ethereum was trading 2.4% higher at $1,607.52, which is still 21% lower than its all-time high of $2,042.93.
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