Bitcoin value reaches 3-year high
Bitcoin’s value reached its highest level in the past three years on Friday.
The cryptocurrency on Friday afternoon was valued at $771.14 per bitcoin, according to the Coinbase platform.
{mosads}After hitting prices in excess of $1,100 in the fall of 2013, bitcoin’s value tanked significantly, dipping into the $220 range in 2015.
The 8-year-old currency has become more stable but is prone significant price fluctuations. In the past year alone, the currency has increased in value by 80 percent.
Long-term investors in bitcoin see value in the currency’s ability to process internationally, quickly and anonymously with no need for a central authority to validate transactions and charge the fees that come with it.
Critics of the currency highlight its use to facilitate illegal transactions on the dark web and argue that the underlying technology of bitcoin, the blockchain — a sort of digital public ledger — can be adopted by private companies to the same effect.
Companies like Ripple have taken advantage of this to offer bitcoin-like technologies to banks for faster and cheaper cross-border payments.
Though the cryptocurrency has seen little scrutiny in Congress, this could change if it continues to increase popularity and utility. In September, Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) announced the formation of the Blockchain Caucus in Congress to focus on blockchain and bitcoin technologies.
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