A pitiful “capitulation” followed by a spectacular rehabilitation: this could be summarized as the year 2023 for bitcoin, the best-known cryptoasset. In bad shape at the start of the year after the resounding FTX scandal – the transaction platform whose co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried confused his clients’ funds with his personal wallet -, it is now showing an increase of more than 150 % of its price in dollars since the start of the year, at 43,000 dollars (39,000 euros), compared to less than 17,000 dollars a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index on Wall Street shows an increase of “only” 24%. The only advantage that this reference of the financial “old world” retains: it practically returned to its highest historical level in December, while bitcoin remains far from its own, touched in November 2021 at nearly $68,000.
The 2023 performance of bitcoin is far from isolated: many lesser-known cryptoassets, such as ethereum or solana, have benefited greatly in recent months from the marked renewed interest of investors.
Easing financial conditions in the United States
And this reversal of trend feeds the euphoria of certain players in the sector: Brian Armstrong, the general director of the Coinbase exchange platform, judged on December 4 on X that “Bitcoin could be the key to the continuation of Western civilization”. Nothing less.
This shows that cryptos have come a long way: in February, three months after the bankruptcy of FTX, the sector was targeted by the American financial authorities, who seemed determined to subject it to strict regulation. And the price of bitcoin then struggled to stay above $20,000.
“The FTX crisis has signaled capitulation time for bitcoin”explains Alexandre Baradez, analyst at the broker IG. “Once the abscess was burst, it took a few months for the market to stabilize before entering the current upward phase. »
This rebound accelerated from mid-October, taking advantage in particular of the easing of financial conditions in the United States: the prospect of an end to the increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve, or even of a decline in these in the coming months, has made assets such as gold and bitcoin, long disadvantaged by their lack of yield, more attractive.
A new engine for cryptos
Thus supported by monetary easing, the return to favor of bitcoin was only briefly disrupted by the Binance affair, another large international cryptoasset exchange platform, forced to pay $4 billion in fines for close investigations into suspected violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws. An outcome which also forced the resignation of the emblematic founder of the company, Changpeng Zhao, known as “CZ”.
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