Bitcoin breaks $50,000 mark again in broader crypto rally

Bitcoin broke past the $50,000 level once again for the first time since August 23, as the broader crypto market continued its rally.

While the largest digital currency surged almost 6% to hit $50,374.97, an intraday high, on Thursday, Ether, the second-largest, jumped more than 7% in a day to $3,841.

Both the digital coins rose for the first time since May, when the prices reached an all-time high.

Cardano, which comes just after Bitcoin and Ether in terms of market cap, has also surged and is just shy of reaching a $100 billion market value amid optimism about smart contracts.

The wider rally has helped other digital coins gain, with the overall global cryptocurrency market cap jumping more than 5.1% to $2.24 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

“Two fundamental factors that are likely behind Bitcoin’s push: Twitter’s potential integration of the coin as a Tip Jar payment option, and the official launch of Bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador come September 7,” Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO of global-payment network Mercuryo, told Bloomberg in an email.

“While we are expecting the $50,000 price point to hold, Bitcoin buyers are exercising more optimism for even a bigger price gain by year-end.”

The crypto market has surged amid the recent increasing institutional interest and development in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

On Wednesday, app developer and researcher Alessandro Paluzzi shared a screenshot showing a new upcoming feature of Twitter to help users receive Bitcoin tips, which the social media chief Jack Dorsey had hinted earlier.

The leak showed the feature will use the Lightning Network, a payment protocol designed to handle blockchain-based digital coins, and is is mentioned that the technology will allow for faster payments with lower fees than Bitcoin’s primary network.

The leak has been later confirmed by Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s product leader.

“Bitcoin approaching another region of notable price stability. Short term technicals are weak while on-chain, investors are in accumulation,” Willy Woo, an on-chain Bitcoin analyst, wrote on Twitter.

“All the makings of a volatility squeeze. Breaking 50 likely a fast track to 60.”

Picture Credit: Fox