THE BITCOIN BOUNCE: WHAT COMES NEXT?

Markets this year are roiling, uncertainty abounds and the U.S. government has had to step in to rescue two large American banks in recent days. So why is bitcoin, considered among the riskiest bets of them all, rising so fast?

Just months ago, all forms of cryptocurrency appeared to be going up in flames, with bitcoin plunging from almost $50,000 at the start of 2022, to less than $17,000 when 2023 rolled around.

Bitcoin has since soared more than 60% and it climbed another 8% this week above $27,000, all in an era of mass layoffs in the tech sector and widespread anxiety about stability in the U.S. banking sector.

SO WHAT HAPPENED?

The pandemic was an era of massive growth for both technology companies and crypto. That surge began to wane in late 2021 as people began to travel, go out to restaurants or catch a show. They spent much less time in front of screens and at the same time, the government stimulus checks that allowed people some financial cushion began to run out. Crypto began to fall in tandem with technology. On top of that, in March 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve began an aggressive string of rate hikes, its most powerful weapon to fight inflation, which had begun to rise rapidly.