The price of the most famous cryptocurrency is back to a value never reached since the end of 2017.

Bitcoin continues its momentum. The price of the most famous cryptocurrency jumped this Tuesday for the second consecutive session, gaining 1,500 dollars in less than 48 hours and approaching its all-time high of late 2017-early 2018.

At around 5:20 p.m. GMT (6:20 p.m. in Paris), bitcoin was costing $ 17,502, and had been evolving at levels more seen since the brief price spike at the end of 2017, when the cryptocurrency reached its all-time high at $ 19,041, before falling in early 2018.

“There is a real appetite for risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, due to the extraordinary economic stimulus measures by global banks and governments,” Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at Forex told AFP. com. Bitcoin Evolution has since exceeded $ 18,200 on November 18.

Bitcoin: An alternative to traditional currencies

Central banks, which are flooding the world with liquidity to support the global economy hit hard by the pandemic, are urging investors to look to all possible assets: in the United States, the S&P 500 and Dow stock indexes Jones Industrial Average both finished on record Monday.

Bitcoin, created in 2008 by an anonymous, presents itself as an alternative to traditional currencies, precisely because its issuance by a non-centralized network aims to prevent such monetary easing measures by institutions.

“I think investors have become more comfortable with the idea of ​​buying cryptocurrencies, many investment funds have been launched with this issue in mind in 2020,” said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets .

In addition to the interest of investment funds, bitcoin is of interest to other more traditional players in online payment. The rise of the past few weeks began when online payments giant PayPal announced on October 21 that it was launching its own platform for exchanging bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies. What mark a new course towards the democratization of this currency.