Crypto investors reap big returns in one year

While the BSE Sensex grew by about 40% in one year, Bitcoin has risen by over four times to Rs 50 lakh

Amid the Bitcoin scam making news in Karnataka, the value of this popular cryptocurrency has risen by over four times in the last one year to touch over Rs 50 lakh. Cryptocurrency prices have risen faster than that of Indian equity markets.

While the BSE Sensex grew by about 40% in one year, Bitcoin, the most popular form of cryptocurrency, has risen by over four times to Rs 50 lakh. A year ago, this form of virtual currency traded at around Rs 11 lakh.

Ethereum, another type of cryptocurrency, has risen by over 10 times in the same period. Bitcoin touched an all-time high of Rs 51,24,975 on November 10.

In the last 10 days, the price of Bitcoin has risen by nearly $10,000 in the global market. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation increased to Rs 91.6 trillion in the last 10 days alone.

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Analysts tracking virtual currencies say that the bull run for crypto is not over yet. “Technically, Bitcoin is aiming at levels above $70,000 in the short term, which it is very likely to break in order to consolidate further and set the price action on a path to reach the $100,000 milestone in the medium run,” says Kshitij Purohit, Lead Currency & Commodities at CapitalVia Global Research.

Ethereum recently touched an all-time high of Rs 3,61,516. The price of Ether, one year back, was Rs 34,000. Both these forms of cryptocurrency bounced back after a major dip earlier this year. While Bitcoin was trading at Rs 42,80,074 in April, it gradually fell to touch Rs 26,05,588 in June. This was when China was threatening to ban cryptocurrency.

Purohit adds that the jump in cryptocurrency is not essentially due to fundamentals and has a lot to do with supply and demand. According to Statista’s research, a lot of cryptocurrencies have reached their maximum level of supply with no possibility of any more mining. Statista adds that Bitcoin is close to reaching its maximum supply of 21 million coins. It states that currently, 18.89 million Bitcoins have been mined. Others like Iota and Theta have reached their 100% supply quantity.

Despite lack of regulatory clarity, the Indian crypto market seems to be growing. According to reports, there are 10.07 crore crypto users in India, the highest in the world.

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