Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $97,000 in Canada on Monday. Canadians are wondering whether investing or buying cryptocurrency will pay off as bitcoin continues to fluctuate.
The previous record was $86,954 on Nov.10, 2021, according to Crypto News.
Today marks the fourth time in six days that bitcoin hit a new high, driven by record-breaking amounts of people and big businesses investing into U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETF).
After bitcoin started growing past $1 in 2011, Canadians have been steadily increasing their awareness of the digital currency, according to the 2021 Bank of Canada Bitcoin Omnibus Survey.
“One of the main reasons for this price increase is because more investment banks are selling bitcoin as stock. For every stock the bank sells, they receive the equivalent bitcoin,” Toronto Bitcoin Center told Now Toronto.
The amount people are buying is more than what’s being created, so the price might even increase to over a million dollars, according to Toronto Bitcoin Center salesperson Sunny Taheri.
Although most bitcoin users are interested in investing, ownership of bitcoin has increased from five per cent in 2018 to 13 per cent in 2020, the Omnibus survey shows.
However, there are differences between directly using bitcoin and investing in an ETF.
“If you buy a bitcoin ETF you don’t really own it,” Taheri said.
“I’m one of the rare ones who uses bitcoin regularly, so I believe in it,” sports betting and content creator Alexander Piskopos told Now Toronto.
Given his career, Piskopos is constantly depositing money in countries all over the world
“It eliminates the middleman. There’s no going to the bank, no fees, no waiting,” Piskopos said.
The Omnibus survey suggests more bitcoin owners report using a mobile app to obtain and exchange bitcoin.
Piskopos suggests there are risks with storing cryptocurrency on your phone or online.
After leaving his own cryptocurrency on the once reliable but now bankrupt crypto site FTX Exchange, Piskopos was hacked. “If they have your assets, then it’s too bad, so sad,” he told Now Toronto.
“Get one of these,” he says as he pulls out a pocket-sized, silver-covered ledger in one of his TikTok videos. “Make sure you’re protecting yourself.”
@piskypositivo protect yo self #cryptocurrency #bitcoin #ethereum #btc #eth #piskypositivo ♬ original sound – Pisky
Operating for just over a decade, Toronto Bitcoin Center is well-equipped to educate interested bitcoin enthusiasts about the volatility of bitcoin as a new financial asset class.
“Most people directly buy crypto from online accounts or use online exchange platforms that charge withdrawal fees or freeze your money for a week,” Taheri said. “We make sure when anyone buys bitcoin from us that it’s directly transferred into their own wallet.”
Social media platform X has been booming with Canadians’ reactions and comments about the historical increase in price.
One user posted over 20 tweets advocating for people on the platform to buy bitcoin immediately.
“Bitcoin just reached a new high of over $93,000 today, and last week the Bank of Canada published that for the first time in Canadian history, it was on track to lose more than 3.4 billion dollars,” another X user said.
