Bitcoin price hit a record high last week, and the total market value of cryptocurrencies reached $46 billion

Golden Finance News - On May 4, 2017, the USD/BTC market hit a new high. According to Coinbase's quotes on that day, the price of Bitcoin reached $1,665; Bitfinex even rose to an unprecedented $1,702.

(Bitcoin price reached $1,702 last week. Image source: Golden Finance)

However, as the price of the currency soared to a record high, the price of Bitcoin suddenly dropped to a low of $1,445 within an hour. After that, the price of the currency repositioned its trajectory to the $1,570 range and fluctuated slightly again.

There were some major moves in the Bitcoin market last Thursday, with the price of Bitcoin hitting a new high. At the start of the day, data from Bitcoin.com showed that the price of Bitcoin was $1,540 per coin, and then continued to climb to over $1,600.

And almost all digital currency markets have continued to rise along with the price of Bitcoin, such as Ethereum and Litecoin.

At around 3pm EST, the average price of Bitcoin dropped by more than $100 per Bitcoin in less than 10 minutes. Ten minutes later, the price of Bitcoin rose again to $1,520 after reaching $1,490.

However, as a minor rebound re-emerged, the Bitcoin price once again fell to a low of $1,445 on many global exchanges.

(The decline in Bitcoin prices caused Gocelery Exchange to suspend deposit and withdrawal services. Image source: Golden Finance)

There is not much reason for the price drop as many believe it is just a market correction. Gocelery, a relatively small Bitcoin exchange in the United States, temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals due to the price decline.

While many Bitcoin supporters were focused on the price rally this week, there were also a lot of interesting things happening. For example, Bitpay announced a partnership with Bitmain Technologies in a “multi-million dollar development agreement” that will see the company assist Bitmain in the research and development of advanced open-source software.

Another event was the joining of Jon Matonis to Craig Wright-related Nchain.

Meanwhile, headlines on mainstream media news sites such as Bloomberg, Time, Forbes, CNBC, and others have highlighted the rise in Bitcoin prices. Most reports discuss Japan’s current relationship with Bitcoin and the growth in trade volumes. Additionally, the Bitcoin market has also been watching as some governments like Mexico, for example, enact legislation similar to Japan’s recent legalization and elimination of consumption taxes.

(The rise in Bitcoin prices has driven up the prices of other cryptocurrencies. Image source: Golden Finance)

Overall, the overall cryptocurrency market value index rose.

The top ten cryptocurrencies have all seen price increases over the past 72 hours. The second most valuable cryptocurrency is Ethereum, which has a market cap of $9 billion at press time. Ethereum (ETH) was trading at $99 on the morning of May 5, up 14%.

Litecoin is also on the rise, likely due to its recent SegWit activation and major Bitcoin exchange Coinbase adding Litecoin to its services, increasing the market's choice of Litecoin.

Collectively, the market capitalization of all 717 cryptocurrencies has reached an all-time high of $46 billion.