SINGAPORE: Bitcoin hit a new record high $60 shy of $50,000 on Tuesday, extending a sharp rally that has been mostly fueled by big investors beginning to take digital assets seriously.
The first and most famous cryptocurrency, bitcoin hit $49,938 and has gained roughly 70 percent this year, most of that after electric carmaker Tesla said it bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin and would accept the currency as payment.
Tesla’s move was the latest in a string of large investments that have vaulted bitcoin from the fringes of finance to company balance sheets and Wall Street dealing desks, as US firms and traditional money managers have started to buy a lot of it.
The soaring cryptocurrency, which was near worthless a decade ago when software developer Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoins for two pizzas, surpassed $20,000 only in mid-December, but has so far struggled to crack $50,000 after a few attempts.
“Bitcoin has been range bound for the past four or five days, suggesting either stalling momentum or a consolidation period,” said Justin d’Anethan, sales manager at digital asset company Diginex in Hong Kong.
“We believe in the latter,” he said, since strong recent demand has been drawing down bitcoin’s finite supply.
Bitcoin last traded just short of its new record at $49,045 while rival cryptocurrency ethereum also held near its own record top of $1,879 made last week.
Besides Tesla, bitcoin has drawn unprecedented flows from big and small investors in recent months and posted new milestones on the path to greater takeup as a mode of exchange.
The cryptocurrency was created by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, whose real identity is unknown and is based on blockchain technology which acts like public ledger of transactions. It began circulating in 2009, mostly among speculators — something which is beginning to change.
Business software firm MicroStrategy made the first of several multimillion-dollar bitcoin purchases in August and a number of Wall Street fund managers, such as billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller, now sound positive on the asset.
PayPal is allowing customers to use bitcoin at its merchants and Mastercard preparing to do likewise, moves which bring both opportunity and risk.
“The more mainstream the digital currency becomes, the more we should expect regulators to pay attention,” said Mike O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.
Bitcoin within a whisker of $50,000
https://arab.news/4z2un
Bitcoin within a whisker of $50,000
- The soaring cryptocurrency surpassed $20,000 only in mid-December
G7 countries to release oil reserves as IEA agrees to largest ever market intervention
- IEA recommends release of 400 million barrels
RIYADH: Germany, Japan and Austria will release part of their oil reserves after the International Energy Agency recommended the release of 400 million barrels of oil from stockpiles, the largest such move in IEA history.
In a statement, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said the flow of oil, gas and other commodities through the Strait of Hormuz have all but stopped, leading global energy supply to fall by around 20 percent.
Ahead of the confirmation of the move — a larger intervention than the 182.7 million barrels that were released in 2022 by in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — several countries began setting out plans to bring their reserves into play as countries grapple with soaring crude prices amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Birol said: “I can now announce that IEA countries have decided to launch the largest ever release of emergency oil stocks in our agency's history.
“IEA countries will be making 400 million barrels of oil available to the market to offset the supply lost through the effective closure of the strait.
“This is a major action aiming to alleviate the immediate impacts of the disruption in markets.”
Germany’s Economy Minister Katherina Reiche confirmed on Wednesday her government plans to limit petrol price increases at filling stations to once a day and to introduce more stringent antitrust regulation of the sector.
She did not give an exact timing for those measures, but added that the US and Japan would be the largest contributors to the release of the oil reserves.
The US has not confirmed it would do so, but its Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Fox News on Wednesday that “these are the kinds of moments that these reserves are used for.”
The announcements did not stop oil prices rising, with Brent crude up 3.26 percent to $90.66 a barrel at 4:29 p.m Saudi time, and West Texas Intermediate up 3.12 percent to $86.05. Both were some way below the $119 a barrel seen earlier in the week.
“The situation regarding oil supplies is tense, as the Strait of Hormuz is currently virtually impassable,” Germany’s Reiche said.
“We will comply with this request and contribute our share, because Germany stands behind the IEA’s most important principle: mutual solidarity,” Reiche said about the IEA’s request.
According to a statement by Reiche’s ministry, Germany will contribute 2.64 million tonnes of oil. This corresponds to 19.51 million barrels.
Reiche stressed there was no supply shortage in the country, which has a legally mandated reserve of oil and oil products intended to cover 90 days’ demand.
South Korea will release 22.46 million barrels of oil, which represents 5.6 percent of the total IEA ask, the country's industry ministry said.
“The government will consult with the IEA secretariat on details, such as the timing and amount, from the perspective of national interests in accordance with domestic conditions,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said it would continue to coordinate closely with major countries in responding to high oil prices to minimise any domestic impact.
Austrian Economy Minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer said his country was releasing part of the emergency oil reserve and extending the national strategic gas reserve, adding: “One thing is clear: in a crisis, there must be no crisis winners at the expense of commuters and businesses.”
Acting ahead of the IEA move, G7 member Japan announced plans to release 15 days' worth of private-sector oil reserves and one month's worth of state oil reserves.
“Rather than wait for formal IEA approval of a coordinated international reserve release, Japan will act first to ease global energy market supply and demand, releasing reserves as early as the 16th of this month,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in a broadcast statement.
Following a meeting with the IEA on Wednesday, G7 energy ministers said: “In principle, we support the implementation of proactive measures to address the situation, including the use of strategic reserves.”
All IEA member countries are required to keep 90 days’ worth of their nation’s oil use in reserve in case of global disruption.
