Share this article
Bitcoin Buoyant as Price Surges Past $500
Renewed optimism as the bitcoin price passes $500 for the first time in weeks.
Updated Mar 6, 2023, 3:22 p.m. Published May 22, 2014, 8:38 a.m.
Bitcoin passed the $500 mark for the first time in weeks this morning. At press time, the price stood at $513.93 – down from a peak of $518.22 a short time earlier.
The Bitcoin Price Index (BPI) has been climbing steadily since 20th May and started nearing the psychologically important threshold at around 6.00am (BST) today.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Apart from a brief spike in mid-April, bitcoin has been trading south of the $500 mark since late March.
Renewed optimism
A number of positive developments over the past couple of weeks helped reverse the negative narrative and bring back a healthy dose of optimism.
The Bitcoin2014 conference in Amsterdam was a widely considered a success and received significant coverage. The same is true of BitPay's recent record-breaking series-A funding round, which saw the payment processor raise $30m in investment.
There were some positive developments on the regulatory front too, and Circle finally revealed its product roadmap aimed at the mainstream market.
What comes next?
It is difficult to make any predictions, but the renewed optimism and positive media buzz are encouraging. Bitcoin got a lot of negative coverage following the arrest of Charlie Shrem, the collapse of Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox and regulatory clampdown in China.
All these factors contributed to a massive price slide earlier this year. However, for all the talk of bitcoin volatility and hype-fed bubble, the price has remained relatively stable since the slump.
A month ago the price stood at $484, a month before that it was at $564 and on February 22 it was $604. Compared to national currencies, these are still significant swings, but they pale in comparison to what the market went through in November and December.
It remains to be seen whether this will be yet another short-lived spike, but the overall trend is positive for the time being.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Strategy shares register first six-month losing streak since adoption of bitcoin strategy in 2020
Crypto analyst Chris Millas has highlighted an unusually persistent slump in Strategy shares, breaking with past drawdown patterns even as the firm continued accumulating bitcoin.
What to know:
- Strategy shares fell in each of the final six months of 2025, marking the first time since the firm adopted bitcoin in August 2020 as a treasury reserve asset.
- The decline stands out for its persistence, as past selloffs were often followed by sharp rebounds.
- The stock sharply underperformed both bitcoin and the Nasdaq 100 despite the firm's continued BTC purchases.
Top Stories
