Bitcoin price breaks all-time record, nearing $20,000 as cryptocurrency bounces back from March slump

The price of bitcoin has hit a record high, inching toward the $20,000 mark in a dramatic recovery for the world’s most popular digital currency, which has rallied more than 200 percent since March.

The cryptocurrency capped out at just over $19,850 on Monday before retreating to around $19,668, according to the CoinDesk index, surging past its previous peak of $19,666, hit in late 2017. The spike follows a week of volatility, seeing the price dip to as low as $16,200 last Thursday.

Bitcoin took a serious hit in March with the onset of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, sinking below $4,000 for a time, but has steadily climbed out of the slump, gaining some 240 percent since then. Demand for the digital asset has also surged, helping it bounce back to its new height.

Other major cryptos, which typically follow bitcoin’s trends, also rallied on Monday, with ethereum and XRP gaining by some six percent, while litecoin climbed by more than 11 percent, according to CoinMarketCap. Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, only tether was down over the last 24 hours, shedding just shy of one point.

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