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- Bitcoin’s price rose as high as $9,477 over the last 24 hours after Facebook announced it’s new cryptocurrency Libra.
- Ethereum and Ripple also hit multi-month highs during the same period.
- Facebook’s push into cryptocurrency is renewing optimism that digital currencies could become widely accepted by consumers large companies.
- Watch Bitcoin trade live.
Bitcoin soared to a year-to-date high and reached its loftiest level since May 2018 following Facebook’s announcement of its cryptocurrency project Libra.
Other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum and Ripple also responded positively to the news, rising to multi-month highs over the last 24 hours.
The rally is a result of increased optimism that cryptocurrencies will be widely adopted by both mainstream consumers and the world’s biggest companies.
"A lot of more people around the world will be reintroduced/introduced to crypto and blockchains again because of this news and that will only shed more light on the current dominant crypto-asset that’s live — bitcoin," said Sid Shekhar, co-founder of crypto research firm Token Analyst.
Libra could provide the Facebook’s billions of users with a broader suite of financial services. The currency will be overseen by a group companies including Mastercard, Visa, Uber, and Spotify. Facebook shares were up roughly 2% before the bell on Tuesday.
Bitcoin is up about 150% so far this year, and cleared the $9,000 level for the first time in months on the Libra news.
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Daniel Strauss)