三大原因助推比特币突破2000美元，中国是其中之一

比特币再次高歌猛进，一个月来已飙升近65%，上周更是历史上首次突破2000美元的标志性关口。以前比特币也曾爆发过，但和这次都有些区别。

那么，本轮牛市背后的原因是什么呢？很难下定论，因为比特币是如此的不可预测。不过，以下三个因素为比特币暴涨做出了贡献。

1. 对数字货币的全球性需求

投资者为各种各样的加密货币摇旗呐喊，这种大趋势成就了比特币的2000美元里程碑。数字货币曾被视为怪人和电脑宅男的领域，但如今它已经是如此的主流，以至于投资者认为这是一种新型资产，而且建立了数亿美元的对冲基金来购买它

同时，还有人认为数字货币是一种类似于黄金的资产，可以在政府陷入不稳定状态时保值。最近巴西和美国政局不稳，美元和雷亚尔因此贬值，这或许为最近比特币购买量上升做出了贡献。

最后，以太坊、恒星币和莱特币等其他数字货币近期价值急升也可能使比特币间接受益。虽然可以用美元或其他传统货币来购买这些数字货币，但用比特币（获取难度最小的数字货币）来买往往更简便。换句话说，可能有更多的人用比特币作为媒介来投资更少见的数字货币。

2. 日本和中国

今年4月初，日本监管部门出台新规，更多地将比特币视为银行体系的一部分，而不是一种违法货币。这番调整激发了日本的比特币交易热潮，投资者争相把日元兑换成比特币。这种情况对比特币价格的影响一直显而易见。

在中国，政府长期以来一直对比特币又爱又恨，目前看来中国对比特币的态度重新变得包容起来。据CNBC报道，分析师指出美国和中国的比特币价差显著缩小，这表明中国的比特币投资风险已经不那么高了：

比特币的人民币价格相对于其美元价格的折价幅度在一周内从20%降至5%。中国醒悟了吗？（https://t.co/Pr9QJTLLKP）

- Chris Burniske（@ARKblockchain），2017年5月20日

也就是说，大量亚洲投资正在推动比特币快速蹿升。

3. 炒作和噱头

如果已经跟踪了比特币一段时间，大家就会知道它容易暴跌。暴跌前，会有一系列关于比特币价值的新闻报道，从而形成了一个炒作循环。这个周而复始的过程会引起主流投资者的注意，他们则成了比特币价格上涨的动力。

目前的感觉确实像是在一轮炒作循环之中。社交媒体上充斥着这种加密货币不可思议的增值消息。今年的Consensus（比特币媒体Coindesk在纽约举办的年度技术大会，为期三天）也有望成为最引人关注的一届，除了一长串风投公司的名字，IBM和微软等大公司也将出现在本次会议上。

热炒比特币的原因很多，数字货币和区块链技术（依赖于多个电脑的在线记账系统）已经成为主流只是其中之一。但与此同时，我们也有理由持谨慎态度。就像以往的炒作循环一样，为比特币站脚助威的人数远远超过持反对意见者，其中的部分原因是真正了解数字货币的人寥寥无几，而且其中大多数确实都拥有大量比特币，这就造成持怀疑态度的人不是那么多。

截止上周日下午，比特币交易网站Coinbase上的比特币报价为2020美元。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

审稿：夏林

The digital currency bitcoin is on another remarkable run, soaring nearly 65% in the last month, and smashing the symbolic $2,000 mark for the first time ever this week. Bitcoin has gone on tears in the past, but never quite like this.

So what's behind the latest bull run? It's hard to say for sure, since bitcoin is so unpredictable, but here are three factors that are contributing to bitcoin's boom:

1. The Worldwide Demand for Digital Currency

The $2,000 bitcoin milestone comes amid a larger trend of investors clamoring for crypto-currency of all sorts. While digital money was once seen as the province of cranks and computers geeks, it's now so mainstream that investors see it as a new asset class and are creating hundred million dollar hedge funds to acquire it.

Meanwhile, others see digital currencies as an asset like gold, which can hold its value amid times of government instability. Recent political upheaval in Brazil and the United States, which led to drops in the dollar and the real, may have contributed to the recent uptick in bitcoin buying.

Finally, bitcoin may be benefiting indirectly from a recent explosion in the value of other digital currencies like Lumens, Ethereum and Litecoin. While it's possible to buy these currencies with dollars or other traditional currencies, it's often simpler to use bitcoins (which is the easiest digital currency to acquire) to buy them. In other words, more people may be buying bitcoin as a vehicle to invest in more exotic currencies.

2. Japan and China

At the start of April, regulators in Japan introduced new rules that treated bitcoin less like an outlaw currency and more as a part of the banking system. That change led to a burst of trading activity in the country investors rushed to swap yen for bitcoin. The effect on price has been predicable.

And in China, where the authorities have long had a love-hate relation with bitcoin, it appears the country is growing more tolerant once again. As CNBC reported, analysts are pointing to a big drop in the difference in bitcoin prices between U.S. and Chinese exchanges. This suggests bitcoin-related investments in China are less risky:

The discount that $CNY #bitcoin exchanges trade to $USD exchanges has dropped from 20% to 5% in the period of a week. China awaking? https://t.co/Pr9QJTLLKP

- Chris Burniske (@ARKblockchain) May 20, 2017

In other words, a whole lot of Asian investment is causing bitcoin to soar.

3. Hype and Hoopla

If you've followed bitcoin for a while, you know the currency is prone to spectacular crashes. The crashes followed flurries of press reports about the value of bitcoin, which created a hype cycle, and in turn drew the attention of mainstream investors who helped inflate the price.

It sure feels like we're in the midst of a hype cycle now. Social media is buzzing about the incredible surge in the value of crypto-currency assets. And this year's edition of Consensus, a three-day trade show in New York, promises to be the splashiest yet with big names like IBM and Microsoft appearing alongside a long list of venture capital firms.

There a lot of good reasons for the hype—not least because digital currency and blockchain technology (an online ledger system that relies on multiple computers) has gone mainstream—but also reasons for caution. As with past hype cycles, there are far more people cheering for bitcoin than against it. This is partly because there are few people who truly understand digital currency, and most of those who do own a large amount of it, so skeptics are in short supply.

As of Sunday afternoon, the value of a bitcoin was $2,020, according to Coinbase.