Bitcoin crosses the $40,000 mark
On Sunday, December 3, 2023, the value of bitcoin surpassed the $40,000 mark, reaching a peak of $40,846 at 8:45 p.m. Eastern Time. Over the past week, bitcoin has risen 8.4% and 3% in the last 24 hours, leading to a high the cryptocurrency hasn't seen in 20 months.
Bitcoin crosses the $40,000 mark
Bitcoin (BTC) reached a high last seen in early April 2022, when its unit value crossed the US$40,000 threshold. Daily trading saw the price of the cryptocurrency fluctuate from a low of US$39,309 to a high of US$40,846 per BTC. This price increase brings the total capitalization of the bitcoin market to $795.87 billion, or 50% of the entire crypto-economy of $1.593 billion.
Bitcoin chart
Since the start of the year, BTC has seen a remarkable 140% rise against the US dollar, and in the last month alone, this leading cryptocurrency has rallied just over 49%. Currently, bitcoin has a global trading volume of US$17.93 billion, with its primary trading pair currently being Tether (USDT). After Tether, the main trading pairs for BTC are FDUSD, USD, USDC and KRW.
The Korean won accounted for 4.88% of total BTC trading volume on Sunday, with the cryptocurrency seeing a “kimchi premium” on exchanges like Bithumb and Upbit. While BTC is trading at US$40,798, it is trading at a significantly higher price on Bithumb at US$42,249. This represents a significant premium of US$1,451 per unit over the global average price. Additionally, crossing the $40,000 mark resulted in the unwinding of $77.95 million in BTC short positions in direct reaction to the price adjustment.