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Article Image Caption  Tron CEO Justin Sun in Hong Kong in May, 2020. Sun said he spent $600,000 on an EtherRock. Photo: Bloomberg

PayPal Helps Push Bitcoin Past $50,000; The Problem With EtherRocks

By  |  Aug. 23, 2021 3:43 PM PDT
Photo: Article Image Caption Tron CEO Justin Sun in Hong Kong in May, 2020. Sun said he spent $600,000 on an EtherRock. Photo: Bloomberg

The price of bitcoin crossed the $50,000 threshold for the first time since May on Sunday and then reached as high as $50,482 following news that PayPal now allows its customers in the U.K. to buy, hold and sell bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash. 

PayPal’s expansion marks the first time the payment service’s crypto offerings are available outside of the U.S. It also represents a move into a country that isn’t afraid to flex its regulatory muscle when it comes to digital currencies—the U.K. banned crypto exchange Binance from conducting regulated activity in June. For now, buyers aren’t acting worried. 

Bitcoin has been rising since late July, and other cryptocurrencies, such as ether, XRP and dogecoin, are up as well. The adage of “no news is good news” may be in play. With no major crypto restrictions announced in China in recent weeks, and the fact that fiery conversations around the environmental implications of crypto mining have died down for now, investors seemed to have warmed up once again to digital currencies.

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