If you haven’t heard, bitcoin is back. Well sort of. The best-known cryptocurrency is on a relentless run and bottom pickers may have finally struck gold.
After climbing as much as 20% on April 2, bitcoin BTCUSD, +0.08% and other digital asset prices have not just held, but extended their gains, raising the question: has something fundamentally changed in the digital currency landscape?
Some of the most promising projects center around fixing one of bitcoin’s biggest shortcomings, scalability, or the capacity of blockchains to process cryptocurrency transactions efficiently and quickly. The much-hyped Lightning Network, the second-layer system that sits on top of the bitcoin blockchain, has garnered support from projects that are assisting the network in achieving its goal of scaling.
Today, the bitcoin network can process around 5 transactions per second, while payment networks like Visa and Mastercard can process more than 5,000 per second.Some observers say the rebound has been accompanied by a shift in investor behavior. “We have seen a lot of interest in people buying and holding of late,” said Lennon Sweeting, director and head trader at Coinsquare Capital Markets Ltd.
Still, cryptocurrencies have a long way to go to repair damage done in 2018. Bitcoin is still down more than 70% from its all-time high near $20,000 and the market value of all coins is more than $500 billion from its peak.
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