Bitcoin Crosses $1000 Barrier on Bitstamp as Cross-Exchange Spreads Widen

Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term prices are back to all-time records today. After clearing $1000 on both MtGox and BTC China last week before briefly falling back down, the milestone has now been achieved on Bitstamp, as prices hit a high of $1033 today. In terms of news that is leading to today’s rally, Shopify has announced that it is integrating bitcoin payments for its 75,000 plus merchant client base.

Among the largest bitcoin exchanges by volume, Bitstamp pricing has become more widely used as the pseudo official price of bitcoins. Becoming the proxy of pricing, Bitstamp replaced MtGox as that exchange has seen its values soar above others due to delays in handling dollar based transactions.

Bitstamp itself had its own scare last week as prices of bitcoins traded above those on MtGox for the first time in months as the firm notified clients that a surge of interest led to two day delays in funding processing. However, that issue appears to have settled itself off with MtGox again trading at a huge premium to Bitstamp. As seen in the prices below, spreads between exchanges are once again rising with MtG0x prices around $100 to $200 above those of Bistamp and BTC-e. In addition to the funding delays that have led to premiums, as prices rise, it also had led to thinner Market Depth Market Depth Market Depth is a characteristic of a given market and its ability to handle large order sizes without materially affecting the price of the underlying asset or currency pair. Broad-based definitions of market depth characterize it as a function of liquidity and trading volume.In its most simplistic sense, market depth reflects a real-time list displaying the quantity to be sold versus unit price. This in turn is organized by price level and is reflective of real-time market activity. In theory, Market Depth is a characteristic of a given market and its ability to handle large order sizes without materially affecting the price of the underlying asset or currency pair. Broad-based definitions of market depth characterize it as a function of liquidity and trading volume.In its most simplistic sense, market depth reflects a real-time list displaying the quantity to be sold versus unit price. This in turn is organized by price level and is reflective of real-time market activity. In theory, Read this Term. The lack of meaningful market depth allows for quick spikes in prices as it takes less money to move the market.

As we hit all-time highs today, these are current prices among major exchanges at 13:45 BST

MtGox: 1150 (High of 1170)

BTC China: $1082 (High of $1108)**

BTC-e : 954 (High of 964)

Bitstamp: 1032 (High of 1040)

**Converted from CNY

(Image source Flickr)