Bitcoin Price Range from May 1, 2019 – 31st – High: $9,005 / Low: $5,321

May offered another exciting month for Bitcoiners, even in the context of the ever-exciting crypto space. May proved to be another mega-bullish month for the price of Bitcoin with even more traders and investors coming out of the woodwork to declare the bear market of the past year and half completely done with.

Bitcoin gains back Tether/Bitfinex losses

Even though during the first week of May the legal quagmires of Tether and Bitfinex still lingered, the price of Bitcoin shrugged off any doubt, bolting from around $5,300 to $5,800 in a few days. A single reason for the continued momentum is unclear. What is clear is the market psychology and overall interest is gaining speed again quickly. The surge to new yearly highs prompted coverage on major media outlets like Bloomberg, Forbes, and CNBC, contributing to a sort of snowball effect of investor interest and confidence.

Bitcoin surges 23%

After flirting with the $6,000 level up until May 8th, the price of Bitcoin rose over $1,400 during the next few days – a 23% increase – topping $7,400 for the first time since August 2018, according to CoinMarketCap. Shortly after, the price deflated to under $6,900, likely due to short-term traders taking (healthy) profits.

Despite the impressive rally during the first two weeks of May, it was not without major hurdles either. On May 7th, Binance, one of the largest exchanges for Bitcoin trading in the world, announced a security breach losing $40M dollars’ worth of Bitcoin. The theft accounted for 2% of its total Bitcoin holdings. Binance then went into crisis mode and put a pause on all withdraws and deposits. Nonetheless, Bitcoin still surged to $7,400 levels.

Bitcoin cracks $8k!

After settling around the $6,900 level for about a day on May 13th, the ever-resilient Bitcoin rebounded to crack the $8,000 mark. It reached as high as $8,306 by May 15th, according to CoinMarketCap. Though media and crypto-enthusiasts alike searched for reasons to attribute to the surge, it still remained unclear. However, three main themes that veteran Bitcoin investor Meltem Demirors laid out were: 1) legacy financial players legitimizing the asset class, 2) better consumer products applications and 3) new platforms and services for institutional investors.

Coindesk Consensus Announcements continues momentum

She laid out the following examples. Fidelity and TD Ameritrade now offer Bitcoin trading on their platform. Microsoft announced they are building on the Bitcoin blockchain. The Cash App is doing more Bitcoin trading than ever. Apps like Fold and Flexa announced the ability to use Bitcoin for spending at Starbucks, Whole Foods, and other major retailers. Bakkt announced Bitcoin-settled futures to start in July. This plethora of recent positive news has worked to strengthen investor confidence and unlock access for millions of more users.

What also may have been part of the renewed optimism was the annual Consensus Conference in New York. Hosted by CoinDesk from May 13th to May 15th, it was the main event in the larger “Blockchain Week”. Consensus is one of the largest global conferences for Bitcoin and crypto, drawing in all the major companies, investors, and users.

Flash Crash!

Just when the bulls were celebrating the $8,000 milestone, Bitcoin’s perennial unpredictability proved itself once again. On May 17th, Bitcoin suddenly experienced a flash clash, falling to under $6400 for a brief few minutes before recovering back to around the $7,200 mark. The reason was attributed a large whale order that quickly wiped out thin buy walls, according to Bitstamp. The drop was also exasperated by the fact that Bitmex uses Bitstamp’s spot prices for their derivatives trading, essentially creating a rapid snowball effect of bearish momentum.

Despite, this hellish 20% daily drop for traders, Bitcoin sprung back from $7,200 to $8,000 a few days later on May 20th. It stayed surprisingly flat for the next week around $8,000, until another quick pop up to $8,900 on May 27th. Analysts have attributed the surge to the $130M worth liquidations of short positions of exchanges such as Bitmex.

$9K Teaser

May end in a sort of teaser for bullish Bitcoiners. On May 30th, Bitcoin broke above the $9,000 threshold, which was a new yearly high and the highest since May 2018. However, it only stayed above $9,000 for about an hour before promptly falling to around $8,200, where it closed out the month.

Overall, Bitcoin rose about 54%. Investors would have made a very quick profit in May if they were able to stomach the volatility along the way.