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Bitcoin staged an epic rally in February. Here is a look back at its record-setting month.

FILE PHOTO: People walk past a board with the logo of Bitcoin in a street in Yerevan, Armenia September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov/File PhotoReuters

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Bitcoin had a momentous run in February, from catapulting to a market capitalization of $1 trillion to smashing the $58,000-mark.

The month also saw heavyweight institutions such as Tesla and Mastercard embrace the cryptocurrency, while MicroStrategy reinforced its support for bitcoin by adding to its existing pile. 

In Febrauary, the price of bitcoin jumped more than 50%. As of Friday 4 pm ET, bitcoin was trading lower by 5.54% to $46,515, a 15% fall compared to Friday last week.

Yet, Pankaj Balani, CEO at cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Delta Exchange, said the case for a stronger rally in bitcoin remains intact despite the recent correction. 

"This is only the second correction in bitcoin prices since November when bitcoin broke above its previous all-time high and started a fresh rally," he said. "One can expect a short-term consolidation in the price of bitcoin around here."

Balani noted that the $40,000 level has become a strong psychological support for the digital coin and will be difficult to break in the short term.

Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange, said such price movements are to be expected in a nascent space. Ardoino foresees the same volatility in March but remains optimistic about the value of the asset.

"As we move into March and through 2021, bitcoin will continue to find its ground, and we will continue to experience fluctuations and volatility," he said. "We should see more mainstream adoption, with the continued entrance of major traditional financial players onto the scene."

Alex Zhao, CEO of Standard Hashrate Group, the project team behind the bitcoin Standard Hashrate Token, echoed the sentiment. 

"Our members now share the prospect that bitcoin price will reach $100,000 before the end of 2021," he said. "We generally foresee an abrupt rise in bitcoin price in March 2021. This is in large part due to the continued quantitative easing, particularly in the US. Hedge funds and corporations will continue to buy more bitcoin."

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Wang, head of Americas for Amber Group, a cryptocurrency financial services firm, said he believes most bitcoin investors are in it for the long haul. 

"I believe a lot of the earlier adopters that have held bitcoin for years aren't looking to sell at levels near here but much higher, north of $100,000 if at all," Wang said. "I look at the next major milestone to be $75,000 where there should be some resistance." 

Through its ups and downs, here is a quick look back at bitcoin's record-breaking rally in February.

February 1

A European Central Bank governing council sounded an alarm for bitcoin investors. "If people want to invest in bitcoin, they have to be prepared to lose all their money – that's certainly my view," said Gabriel Makhlouf, a governing council member of the ECB.

February 5

Bitcoin rose as high as $38,346 briefly. It traded back below $37,000 later in the day. 

February 8

Tesla announced it invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin, pushing the price up 16% to a record $44,795. Tesla also unveiled plans to accept the cryptocurrency as payment in the near future. 

February 9 

Bitcoin soared above $48,000 for the first time, riding the rally sparked by the Tesla announcement. 

February 10

The ECB's Christine Lagarde said she does not consider bitcoin a real currency and will not be holding it as reserve currency anytime soon. "It's very unlikely — I would say it's out of the question," Lagarde said. 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also criticized bitcoin. "I see the promise of these new technologies, but I also see the reality: cryptocurrencies have been used to launder the profits of online drug traffickers; they've been a tool to finance terrorism," she said.

February 11

Mastercard announced that it will begin allowing customers to use some cryptocurrencies on its network later this year. "We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments," Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president of digital asset products said in a blog.

America's oldest bank also revealed plans to issue, hold, and transfer clients' bitcoin. Bank of New York Mellon said it would soon allow digital currencies to be treated the same as more traditional investments. 

Bitcoin surged to an intraday high of $48,364 following continued buy-in from major players. It was the second time the world's most popular cryptocurrency blew past the $48,000-mark in one week.

Elon Musk posted a vague tweet with an image of a ring with the logo of bitcoin earlier in the day.

February 12

Twitter CEO and a longtime bitcoin advocate Jack Dorsey announced a partnership with Jay-Z to start a bitcoin endowment that will focus on developing the cryptocurrency in India and Africa. "It'll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us," Dorsey said.

On the same day, Andrew Yang said he would make New York City a hub for bitcoin if elected mayor. "As mayor of NYC - the world's financial capital - I would invest in making the city a hub for BTC and other cryptocurrencies," the former presidential candidate said in a tweet.

February 13

BitPay floated the possibility of its bitcoin cards being added to their Apple Wallet, giving cryptocurrency holders a new way to spend via Apple Pay. "We have thousands of BitPay Wallet app customers using the BitPay Card who are always looking for new places and ways to spend their crypto," said Stephen Pair, CEO of BitPay.

February 16

Bitcoin jumped above $50,000 for the first time, bringing its year-to-date gain to 74%. The cryptocurrency rose nearly 5%, to $50,547

February 17

Bitcoin hit another record high, climbing above $51,700 for the first time and bringing its market capitalization close to $1 trillion.

MicroStrategy increased its convertible debt offering from $600 million to $1 billion. The software technology company owned nearly 71,000 bitcoin to date since it began purchasing bitcoin last summer. 

February 18

Bitcoin continued its rally to just above $52,600.

February 19

Bitcoin cracked the $1 trillion dollar market capitalization threshold, joining the ranks of companies like Apple, Tesla, and Microsoft, and shrugging off speculation concerns

The digital coin traded at $53,038 as of 10:10 a.m. ET, having risen around 1.9% over the previous 24 hours. 

North America's first bitcoin ETF, the Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC), began trading. 

February 21

Bitcoin hit its highest record to date on a quiet Sunday, jumping to $58,640 according to cryptocurrency tracker CoinGecko. It soon slumped back below $57,000.

February 22

Bitcoin tumbled 7% to below $48,000. A chorus of bears decried the cryptocurrency's volatility. 

February 23

Bitcoin extends its losses for a second day, tumbling by as much as 18%, to $45,000. 

Later in the day, payments company Square announced it bought more bitcoin, adding 3,318 coins at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million. The payments company now owns 8,027 bitcoins, representing about 5% of its total cash. 

February 24

MicroStrategy doubles down on its bitcoin optimism. CEO Michael Saylor announced on Twitter that his company purchased an additional 19,452 bitcoins for an estimated $1.026 billion in cash at an average price of $52,765 per coin. As of this day, MicroStrategy owns 90,531 bitcoins.

February 26

Bitcoin tumbled as much as 11% to as low as $44,200 Friday morning, before regaining some ground, trading at $$46,515 around 4:08 PM ET.

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