Bitcoin rises over $18,000 and touches record market value, exceeding its 2017 top – MarketWatch

The worlds most prominent digital currency on Wednesday was back to carving out records just like it was 2017. The No. 1 cryptos nearly 11.7% weekly rise and 34% gain so far in November has helped the asset hit a market value of around $334 billion, according to digital-currency data site CoinMarketCap.

Read: He accurately called bitcoins near-term surge to $16,000, but now sees chance of a 20% tumble

That level surpasses the roughly $322.7 billion value that bitcoin hit on Dec. 17 when its price was nearly $20,000 (see chart).

Although bitcoins price BTCUSD, +0.22% BTCUSD, +0.22% hasnt exceeded that 2017 record level, it currently sits about 10% shy of touching a round-number milestone at $20,000. It quietly has been drawing more attention and notching a fresh all-time peak for an asset considered one of the most polarizing of this generation of financial markets.

Bitcoins record market capitalization reflects the attention that the blockchain-based asset has garnered over its rivals.

So-called bitcoin dominance, or the share of bitcoins value as it contributes to the universe of recognized digital currencies, was at 66.5%, as tracked by CoinMarketCap. Bitcoins market-cap dominance is near to its highest level since May of 2020.

Bitcoin and other cryptos were boosted last month after PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, -1.13% said it wouldallow customers to buy cryptocurrency through their accounts anduse it for merchant payments.

Bitcoin prices have gained nearly 151% so far this year, with Bitcoin futures BTC.1, +0.84% trading on the CME Group seeing a similar rise. By comparison, gold GCZ20, -0.15% has gained 23% in the year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -1.15% has climbed 4.4% so far in 2020. The S&P 500 index SPX, -1.15% has gained about 12% and the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.82% has surged roughly 33% over the same period.

Still, bitcoin bears and detractors arent hard to find. On Tuesday, Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the worlds largest hedge fund, and a longtime bitcoin skeptic, on Twitter challenged proponents of the currency to explain to him why bitcoin is worth his attention and not doomed to collapse.

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Bitcoin rises over $18,000 and touches record market value, exceeding its 2017 top - MarketWatch