Bitcoin retreats from $63K as Coinbase users report outages
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) momentarily reached above $63,000 on Wednesday as the crypto asset keeps its momentum and continues to rally this week. Bitcoin prices fluttered back below $61,000, dampened by outages on the crypto trading platform Coinbase (COIN), which incorrectly displayed user balances at $0.
Yahoo Finance Live anchors Julie Hyman and Josh Lipton examine the action occurring in the crypto space, touching upon the broadening "number go up" philosophy that is not exclusive to cryptocurrencies.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Luke Carberry Mogan.
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: Bitcoin, the crypto asset jumping past $60,000, getting up, it depends on where you're looking on the different exchanges. Different exchanges have different levels here. But definitely seeing the highest that we've seen in quite some time, Josh. And the action that we've been watching that is so interesting here has to do with this drop, little drop that we saw happen. And that was after Coinbase said some of its users were reporting that they were seeing zero for some of their accounts.
So they tweeted about it earlier today, that then got a lot of attention. Basically, they're saying, some users might see a zero balance. They said your assets are safe, but you might see a zero balance. And then Brian Armstrong, the CEO, saying they had seen a large surge of traffic that caused that, and then finally Coinbase is saying some of those accounts are back up and running. Anecdotally we've talked to some folks whose accounts are back up and running now. But let's talk a little bit more, again, about the price action. I know you've been watching all the big numbers.
JOSH LIPTON: Yeah, just to put some numbers on this, Julie, because it is just a remarkable comeback, you have seen, for Bitcoin. So, so you jump past $60,000 which by the way, is the first time we've been at these levels in more than two years. That means you're actually getting closer now to that record, that all time high, which was $69,000, and that was back in November 2021.
So the price action is pretty incredible here. And really, let me just year to date too, we could see that. Because that alone, if you just look at that, so you're up about 40% already this year. You've actually tripled from the start of the beginning of last year. And in context there, you bring it back to 2022, right, you saw this plunge. I mean, you saw Bitcoin nosedive about 60%.
And we've talked about this. It wasn't just that price action, it was all that came with it during that period. All the drama, the trials, the scandals. I mean, there were really people, Julie, and remember this, who were really questioning just the future and the viability of these digital assets. And so you have seen now just this comeback, just a remarkable fierce rally here.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, I mean, and here's the three-year chart here, including that high that you mentioned that was a couple of years ago. What's interesting is, even as you say that you had that period of scandals that coincided with the so-called crypto winter, you still have the criminal situation with Binance resolving itself, getting to the end of that. There has been an uptick in investigations related to alleged social media related fraud connected to crypto.
So that stuff hasn't necessarily gone away, that's what's fascinating here even as we see it come back up, helped in part by the spot Bitcoin ETFs introductions. But it's just, it's been an interesting and sudden move up.
JOSH LIPTON: And you've pointed this out as well. It's all, you do have that drama and some of the stuff playing out. But then, of course, as you mentioned, you have the Bitcoin Bulls would point to some of these other drivers, spot Bitcoin ETFs, one of them limiting supply. If demand holds steady, you wonder what it could mean for the price action in the near term. And also, of course, some speculation about spot Ethereum ETFs, maybe that's playing, and also that market dynamic we talk about the Bitcoin halving, that's coming up as well in April.
JULIE HYMAN: All of that may be true. But as we talked about a little bit yesterday, and as I wrote about in today's takeaway in the Morning Brief, there's also this number go up, philosophy. In other words, you buy because the price is going up, and you want to participate. And you think the number is going to continue to go up, and so far this year, it has.
JOSH LIPTON: It has worked.
