Price of Bitcoin Shoots Above $50,000 for First Time Since May

The value of Bitcoin has shot above $50,000, taking it to its highest level since May of this year. The cryptocurrency reached $50,419 on Monday morning, according to CoinMarketCap’s price index, amid a market-wide resurgence.

Ethereum (ether), Cardano (ada) and Binance Coin are among other leading cryptocurrencies that have experienced considerable gains in recent days.

Predictions of $100,000 or more for Bitcoin

Bloomberg says that the revival in virtual currencies has excited the spirits of the crypto faithful, putting predictions of $100,000 or more for Bitcoin back in vogue. Others see the volatile asset carving out a wider trading range for now.

“We’re seeing some very bullish signs here,” said Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia-Pacific with the crypto exchange Luno in Singapore. Bitcoin could “test all-time highs again” after pushing past levels that some had seen as major challenges, he told Bloomberg.

Despite nearly-continual fluctuations in its valuation, fueled by celebrities and business leaders who are either backers of Bitcoin or who think it is “a scam,” in the words of former US President Donald Trump, it currently tops a cool $50,000.

The cryptocurrency is also getting a lift after PayPal (PYPL) announced that it will allow people to buy, hold and sell four types of cryptocurrencies — bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash — in the United Kingdom.

This announcement marks the first international expansion of the company’s cryptocurrency offering outside of the United States, where it launched the service in October of last year.

With this move, the “access, knowledge, and the exploration of cryptocurrency has the potential to become mainstream in the UK,” the company said in a statement.

It’s been a turbulent few months for cryptocurrency as a whole. Bitcoin, which hit an all-time high of nearly $65,000 in April, plummeted to as low as $28,800 in June after China escalated its crackdown on digital currencies.

Bitcoin, which had been hovering between $30,000 and $40,000 for many weeks, began to rise out of its slump last month, when major tech giants signaled — or appeared to signal — their support for digital currencies.

Missouri mayor wants to give every resident $1,000 in Bitcoin

Last week, the mayor of Cool Valley, a city in the US state of Missouri, is raising funds in order to give up to $1,000 in Bitcoin to all residents in his city.

However, Jayson Stewart says he does not want them to sell their bitcoin immediately, noting that when the price of the cryptocurrency is $500,000 per coin years later, people are “going to really regret” selling.

According to KSDK News, Stewart has begun to raise funds in order to give the town’s 1500 or so residents a crash course in cryptocurrency.

Holding Bitcoin “could transform town”

Stewart thinks that holding digital currency could transform the town substantially in years to come.

“I have friends whose lives have been completely changed, like going from working a regular nine to five job to being worth over 80 million dollars in a matter of a few years,” the mayor says. He adds that most of the capital to fund the project will be donated from several anonymous Bitcoin investors.

“I have some very supportive donors who have agreed to match any money that I raise up to several millions of dollars,” says Stewart.