Crypto Market Update, Jan.6: Bitcoin Surges To $36,500, Ethereum Surpasses $1,200

Bitcoin: The price of Bitcoin (BTC), a leading digital currency, has briefly touched $36,574 at 4.30 pm EST at Bitstamp exchange, according to TradingView data provider.

It has settled at $36,300 levels and was trading at $36,475 at press time.

This is a new record for BTC, which broke the $35,000 level only yesterday. The current bull rally started in December when it reached the $20,000 mark on Dec.16. The digital currency has been going up ever since.

The most recent bull prediction has been made by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) strategists, who believe Bitcoin can reach as high as $146,000 in the long term, Bloomberg has reported.

“A crowding out of gold as an ‘alternative’ currency implies big upside for Bitcoin over the long term,” they wrote in a note on Monday. 

But they add that “a convergence in volatilities between Bitcoin and gold is unlikely to happen quickly and is in our mind a multiyear process,” implying that “the above-$146,000 theoretical Bitcoin price target should be considered as a long-term target, and thus an unsustainable price target for this year.”

Ethereum: Ethereum (ETH), the second leading cryptocurrency by market cap, also known as an altcoin, has had a positive run since Dec.24, when it traded at $572.

Ethereum price has surpassed the $1,200 levels at 12.54 pm EST and then fell to $1,129. It was traded at $1,182 at press time.

The cryptocurrency reached its all-time high in January 2018, at $1,432.

Image by Jorge Franganillo via Flickr