Bitcoin at $40k? Crypto jumps after signs more tech companies plan to use it
Bitcoin has gone up more than 10% in the last 24 hours rising to the highest levels it has seen in a month—reversing a bearish sell-off that left many investors nervously anticipating a further drop.
The cryptocurrency was trading at $38,188.92 as of midday today in London, according to Coindesk data, after hitting a 24-hour high of $39,544.29.
Bitcoin’s rally pushed the value of other cryptocurrencies up, which led to the entire crypto market capitalization adding over $146 billion in value in 24 hours to midday in London. Ether was up 7.4% while Dogecoin was also trading at an 11% premium, according to Coindesk. This is the highest levels the coins have seen since June 16.
The jump up is starkly different to the mood earlier in the month where $85 billion in value was wiped off the crypto market in 24 hours after the coin’s value fell below the $30,000 mark, sparking fears the coin would plunge even further.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index—which displays the mood among market participants by measuring cash and equity allocations against market ups and downs—also bounced back, with Bitcoin in the “fear” category at 26/100, jumping up from the “extreme fear” mood it was at last week.
The jump in Bitcoin’s price comes after an unconfirmed report in CityAM, a free London business paper, that Amazon was aiming to accept payments in Bitcoin “by the end of the year,” according to a company insider. The orders to implement the crypto strategy came from Jeff Bezos, the insider said, and the company planned to add other cryptocurrencies once Bitcoin was launched.
Amazon has doubled down on cryptocurrencies, recently advertising the position of a Digital Currency and Blockchain Product Lead to “own the vision and strategy for Amazon’s Digital Currency and Blockchain strategy and product roadmap.”
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The jump also comes after bullish calls from Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Tesla’s Elon Musk and ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood who all recently spoke during a closely watched bitcoin conference called “The B-Word.”
Musk noted that Tesla would likely start accepting bitcoin for vehicle purchases again as a greater share of bitcoin mining switches to renewable energy, reversing his last decision made in May, when Tesla suspended cryptocurrency transactions due to the use of fossil fuels for mining.
The coin still has a far way to go to reach its mid-April high of $65,000. The full impact of China shutting down its operations on Bitcoin mining has also yet to be seen. Many reports indicate that as China ends its bitcoin mining operations, the demand is being picked up elsewhere, and they’re not so clean either.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com