Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Bitcoin is back - but can the comeback last?

Bitcoin is back - but can the comeback last?

Bitcoin, which recently celebrated its eleventh anniversary, has surged this year. Prices have more than doubled to around $8,500 in 2019.

Bitcoin (XBT) has enjoyed a nice rally in recent weeks as well, even as skepticism about Facebook (FB) and and its Libra cryptocurrency mounts in Washington and Europe.

It appears that bitcoin fans are not worried about what will happen to Libra. The mere fact that Facebook has shown such interest in cryptocurencies is being viewed as validation for bitcoin and other forms of digital payments.

The prices of leading rival cryptocurrencies to bitcoin, such as ethereum, litecoin and EOS have all rallied this year as well.
So is the bitcoin comeback for real? Investors can be forgiven if they are more than a bit skeptical. Bitcoin and other cryprtos have staged monstrous rallies before - only to have them quickly go poof.

What's more, bitcoin is still well below the all-time high of nearly $20,000 that it hit in December 2017.

But the recent spike in bitcoin just might be legit this time. There is mounting evidence that bitcoin adoption is growing rapidly. Mobile payments company Square (SQ) (Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's other company) recently reported a surge in demand for bitcoin purchases on its Cash App, for example.

China is taking more steps to embrace bitcoin as well. Chinese president Xi Jinping recently made bullish comments about the blockchain technology that acts as a ledger for bitcoin transactions, calling blockchain an "important breakthrough."

Nearly half of respondents in a recent survey said they thought bitcoin would be the best performing asset over the next 12 months, according to a poll of 350 finance executives conducted by blockchain research firm Chainalysis in late September. Only a third of those surveyed said stocks would be the top asset to own and a small minority said bonds or housing would outperform equities and bitcoin.

"Our belief in the potential of cryptocurrency was echoed by the number of finance professionals who view bitcoin as a high-growth asset class and envision a global digital currency in the near future," said Jonathan Levin, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Chainalysis, in a report about the survey that was released earlier this month.


Looming supply shock could lift bitcoin prices

Bitcoins are created by a complex process known as mining. It's not as simple as a central bank of a country turning on the printing press to issue more money. There is a finite number of bitcoins that will be issued.

That's why there may be a compelling technical reason to be bullish on bitcoin, according to Matt Hougan, global head of research at cryptocurrency asset management firm Bitwise. Hougan points out that bitcoin production tends to cut slashed in half every four years, which should lead to more demand and higher prices.

"The amount of new bitcoin issued ('mined') each day is hard-coded into the software of the bitcoin blockchain," Hougan wrote in a report earlier this month.

"Every four years, however, the amount of new bitcoin being produced gets cut by 50%. Like a supply shock in oil, this quadrennial 'halving' has historically had a major impact on prices. With less new supply for investors to buy, the price has historically gone up," he added.

Of course, bitcoin could remain insanely volatile for the foreseeable future. But bitcoin no longer seems to be an asset that is relegated to the netherworld of trading. It's not the Wild West anymore.

Bitcoin has gone legit in the past few years thanks to the launch of futures trading on the CME (CME).

Top online brokers Schwab (FNDA), E-Trade (ETFC) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD) offer bitcoin futures trading. So does the red hot trading app Robinhood, which is super popular with millennials. There's also a specialty crypto trading firm named Coinbase that has emerged as a market leader.

Although bitcoin will probably never be an investment for the faint of heart, its best days still may lie ahead of it.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×