Bitcoin price: values show signing of recovery following slump

Bitcoin values are slowly gaining pace after last week falling to their lowest levels since May.

The price of the virtual currency had risen steadily during the first six months of this year, after a tumultuous 2018 that saw prices plummeting from the record high of $20,000 (£15,500) recorded at the end of 2017.

But after nearing a value of $13,000 (£10,080) this June, values gradually slipped towards the $10,000 (£7,750) mark in September and then fell to a six-month low of $6,630 (£5,140) on Sunday, figures from ranking site CoinMarketCap reveal.

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However, prices are creeping up again, with bitcoin trading at $7,530 (£5,840) as of 9:00am UK time today.

Bitcoin’s rivals are also fairing better. Over the past five days, Ethereum has risen from from a low of $134 to $154 today, while banking-focused coin Ripple has climbed to $0.23 (£0.18) from Sunday’s price of $0.21 (£0.16).

So is now the time to buy?

China’s crackdown on illegal cryptocurrency trading was blamed for last week’s plummeting prices. But while the Asian superpower is still in the processes of closing down illicit trading platforms, investors seem to be regaining confidence in the market.

Bloomberg says bitcoin has risen by “about 95%” in 2019, which investors are taking as “a sign cryptocurrencies are maturing”.

Although the declines will probably cause short-term investors a few headaches, many experts believe this is the perfect time to buy into bitcoin, The Independent reports.

“Once again the value of bitcoin has plummeted – due to the nature of cryptocurrency, this is not the first, nor will it be the last time this occurs,” Peter Wood, head of trading platform CoinBurp, told the news site.

“However, new-time investors can be comforted by the fact that its value will most likely rise again, and newcomers to cryptocurrency should see no better opportunity that to invest now,” he added.