What's leading to the fresh surge in Bitcoin prices?

[John Naronha]

[Ignatius Bose]

Bitcoin surged as high as $11,284 on the Coinbase exchange on Sunday, its highest level since March 2018, before pulling back below the psychological $11k mark on Monday. Over the last couple of weeks, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has rallied more than 37% over growing optimism that a large number of companies would adopt digital currencies following the involvement of big players like Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB).

Last week, Facebook unveiled its Libra digital coin with the backing of about two dozen companies, and investors believe the social media giant will create mass awareness of the digital currency, which could lead to an increasingly large number of people and firms adopting the alternative asset class.

One of the other reasons for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin to surge in recent days is the mounting tension between the United States and Iran, who almost went to war last week, while the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing is also lending support to the digital currency.

Prices of bitcoin have surged three-fold from its lows of $3,337.87 in January this year, and the G20 summit later this week could determine the near-term outlook for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.