Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Bitcoin price surges past $18,000, approaching its all-time high

By Arif Bacchus November 18, 2020

Bitcoin, one of the world’s most popular forms of cryptocurrency, has been surging in recent days. As of the morning of Wednesday, November 18, prices on the digital currency went over $18,000, just a few hundred dollars short of its $19,783.06 all-time high. It has since started to fall back toward $17,000, but this is the closest Bitcoin has been to reaching its previous record-setting heights since 2017.

Recommended Videos

Values over the past few days have fluctuated between $16,560 and $18,464. It’s not uncommon for wide fluctuations to occur, with the value of Bitcoin having gained near 70% this quarter. At the time of publication, one Bitcoin is worth $17,418.64. The all-time high, meanwhile, was recorded on December 17, 2017.

A lot of factors could be going into this surge in price. PayPal recently announced that it would be launching a new service enabling users to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin directly from a PayPal account. World events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increased government spending, and high interest rates could be pushing the price higher. It’s also reported that due to COVID-19, investors are viewing cryptocurrency as a shelter from the stock market, according to the BBC.

Though such a price is high and profitable to “mine” with the right resources, Bitcoin can be quite a volatile form of cryptocurrency. Its price fluctuates and is almost unpredictable, often swinging wildly. Bitcoin values can also not really be predicted, as stocks or the value of the U.S. dollar can. For instance, after hitting the all-time high in late 2017, its values fluctuated down to as low as $3,122 in 2018, according to CNBC.

Other cryptocurrencies are trending high, too, but not as high as Bitcoin. Ether is worth $473.52, and Chainlink around $13.25. According to Gemini, that is a percentage increase of 0.68% and 3.72% in the past 24-hours alone.

The popularity and increase in the value of Bitcoin could also put stress on digital wallets that hold the currency for buyers, sellers, and hoarders. Coinbase, a popular digital currency exchange platform, faced outages early in the day on November 1. It later returned to full service shortly after, according to the company’s website.

Digital Trends does not offer investment advice on the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…

Computing

I have Meta Quest 3S and this is the best VR accessory yet — it’s on sale

Kiwi Design best VR accessory Meta Quest 3 headstrap

Ahead of the holidays and some prime family time, I've picked up the Meta Quest 3S. So far, my family is absolutely loving it, and my kids are constantly bugging me to play games, explore worlds, and get virtual. Naturally, I manage the time we're all spending -- you don't want too much screen time. But regardless, every one of us ends up becoming immersed, which means spending a lot of time with the headset on. One of the biggest drawbacks of the stock setup is that the headstrap is uncomfortable, and it puts a lot of pressure on your face. That means, the Meta Quest 3S's best VR accessory -- and the Meta Quest 3, too -- is a new, custom strap.

We grabbed the Kiwi Design Quest 3-Quest 3S headstrap and it's fantastic. It's also on sale right now for 20% off. Normally $30, it's discounted to $24 with a coupon code. Why am I sharing? If you pick up a Meta Quest 3 or 3S for yourself, or you're planning to gift one to someone over the holidays, I highly recommend ordering one of these straps. It vastly improves the experience and makes wearing the headset much more comfortable. It's also easy to adjust the fit, which is a big deal for kids. You have no idea how frustrating it was to constantly adjust the headstrap for my children between each turn.

Computing

Best early GPU Black Friday deals: Save on top graphics cards now

The Gigabyte RX 6750 GRE graphics card over a dark background.

Building a PC from scratch can be a lot of fun, and with the upcoming Black Friday on November 29, it's a perfect time for you to pick up hardware. One of the most fun bits of any build is picking the parts, and for that, graphics cards are probably the most fun to pick between. That said, GPUs also tend to be the most expensive pieces of hardware that go into a desktop, especially if you're trying to aim for something in the mid-to-high-end range that can easily reach $500 or even $1,000. That's why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite early Black Friday GPU deals for you below.
GIGABYTE NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 -- $290 $350 17% off

This RTX 3060 is a great starter card for those who want to be on a budget and will handle most slightly older games pretty well at 1080p and 60Hz, potentially up to 100. It may struggle a bit with newer titles without compromises, but that's fine given the reduced $290 price point.

Computing

Nvidia just scaled down DLSS 3, and that’s a good thing

The RTX 4080 Super graphics card sitting on a pink background.

Nvidia's signature tech, DLSS 3, just got yet another update -- and although it's subtle, it actually seems like a good thing for some of the best graphics cards. The latest version, 3.8.10, bundled with the GeForce 566.14 driver, doesn't seem to introduce any major changes, but Nvidia enthusiasts noticed that it's about half the size that it used to be. Where's that difference coming from?

No, Nvidia didn't downgrade DLSS 3 -- at least not in any major way. Although this hasn't been confirmed by Nvidia itself, it appears that the company removed a whole bunch of DLSS presets and replaced them with just two. These presets make it easier for gamers to choose the type of focus they want to apply to each game.