Bitcoin price hits year-to-date high above $12,000

Update: And there's the drop. Shortly after publishing this piece, the price of Bitcoin fell suddenly to $11,450. It has picked back up to $11,700 but its price is exceptionally volatile.

Following a dramatic crash in mid-March after the coronavirus was declared a pandemic, the Bitcoin (BTC) market sprang to life and has barely skipped a beat since.

Now, after more than four months of near-constant growth, the price of Bitcoin just touched its highest value in 2020 so far, after hitting $12,046 earlier today. Since then, the cryptocurrency has fallen back slightly and is currently hovering around the $12,000 price point.

This is the second time this month Bitcoin touched $12,000. The last time resulted in a sudden rejection, sending BTC tumbling back to $11,000. But so far, it has stayed steady.

At its current value of $11,998, Bitcoin is now up 3.1% in the last week and 6.1% in the last 30 days. The cryptocurrency now has a market capitalization of over $220 million—just $10 million shy of breaking its two-year highest value. BTC trading volumes are now similar to that seen in June 2019, just before Bitcoin climbed from $11,900 up to $13,800.

It isn't just Bitcoin that is on the up and up in recent months. The whole cryptocurrency market has experienced a strong recovery since March, and many altcoins are now at, or close to, their highest value in 2020 so far.

Ethereum (ETH) currently stands out as one of the best performers and has smashed through its 2020 highest value several times in the last month. Ethereum is again on the cusp of breaking through the $400 price point, after failing to do so last week.

Ethereum now sits at $395.80—up 1.4% in the last day and 65.9% in the last month, making it the second-best performing top 10 cryptocurrency this month (behind Chainlink). This growth comes during a time of rapidly increasing demand for decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions—most of which run on Ethereum.