This Bitcoin Weekly would be remiss if the first thing mentioned was not that Bitcoin market value nearly hit $500 on some exchanges today. The community has been watching the slow but very apparent rise in market value over the past few weeks with some interest. Keep reading for some speculation as to what’s behind the boom.

Bitcoin is getting its own symbol added to the Unicode set putting it alongside other currencies such as the U.S. Dollar and U.K. pound amid many others. The Winklevoss Gemini Exchange has seen a massive adoption since it’s launch three weeks ago with trading volume surging.

In the wake of the kidnapping of a billionaire from Hong Kong, Taiwan has declared Bitcoin an illegal asset.

According to BitcoinAverage.com Bitcoin’s current global average for exchange is $466.71. It is down from its heady $494.94 just six hours ago, but up from $385.75 a little under 24 hours ago.

This and more in this weeks Bitcoin Weekly.

Bitcoin market price flirts with $500

Over the past few weeks, the Bitcoin market has been seeing a steady uptick in trading and value. Last week the market value just barely began to hit $300 and today the value briefly exceeded $490. Trading volume continues to increase and with it value is being buoyed.

This week, media outlets were quick to catch onto the trend and began to make waves about the rally of the market. CoinDesk published that this represents a new high for the currency in 2015; it had managed to hit $1,000 in 2013 but has not seen that height since. CNBC writer Everett Rosenfeld noted this represents a 70 percent jump over the course of a single month for exchange rates.

Predictions and rumors abound. In an analysis at SiliconANGLE, writer Ducan Riley published a few likely causes behind the increase in trading volume and boost to market value.

According to Riley, likely reasons may include the new launch of the Gemini Exchange, which caters to the investment community; China could be at large again, speculation questions if new capital controls are pushing Chinese nationals to use bitcoin as an out; the impending final U.S. Marshal auction of the Silk Road seized bitcoins; and the European Union court decision exempting bitcoin purchases from Value Added Tax (VAT).

Whatever is going on, the market has become more volatile over the past few weeks and the increasing price has driven volume and exchanges to flourish.

Bitcoin will be getting its own Unicode symbol

In a coup for the Bitcoin community, the Bitcoin symbol has been accepted for addition in the next Unicode standard.

U+20BF BITCOIN SIGN was just accepted at #UTC145, to be included in a future version of the standard → https://t.co/B9hWLds9HK @kenshirriff

— Ken Lunde (小林剣) (@ken_lunde) November 3, 2015

The symbol will be added to the next Unicode update, which will allow writers, HTML designers, and similar to use the symbol in the same way as the U.S. dollar symbol ($) or the U.K. pound symbol (£).

The symbol is the standard used across much of the community, which is a “B” with two lines through it, but with only the top and the bottom lines visible.

The #Bitcoin sign is accepted by Unicode. My second addition to Unicode, probably more useful than the group mark. https://t.co/ZOoBGGMmX3

— Ken Shirriff (@kenshirriff) November 3, 2015

The proposal [PDF], submitted by Google engineer Ken Shirriff, was accepted by Unicode recently. And, according to a recent tweet, this is the second time he’s added a symbol to Unicode.

Winklevoss Gemini exchange sees a titanic surge in volume since launch

According to an article published at CryptoCoinsNews, Gemini (Gemini Trust Company, LLC), the bitcoin exchange recently launched by the Winklevoss Twins, has seen a 40,000 percent surge in trading in the three weeks since that launch.

No doubt the exchange has benefitted from the ever-increasing market value of bitcoin (as mentioned earlier in the Weekly). The Gemini exchange targets high-volume traders and stock market-style investors seeking to trade. According to the article, a high percentage of the transactions run for 50 or more bitcoins (approximately $20,000 USD or more).

The above chart taken from Bitcoinity shows the spike in trading.

The Gemini exchange currently does not have the New York Bitlicense, a regulatory necessity for trading with bitcoins in New York; instead the company is accredited as a fiduciary trust by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

“Meeting the high-water mark of banking compliance is no small task, especially for a startup, but we felt that doing so was crucial — Bitcoin is an island right now, and, if we are going to build a bridge to the financial mainland, then Gemini must look and feel as safe, secure and compliant as any other top tier financial institution in the world,” Cameron Winklevoss said at the time.

Taiwan declares Bitcoin an illegal asset

In what doesn’t look good for the Bitcoin community in Taiwan, this Monday the Taiwanese Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) declared Bitcoin an illegal asset.

The decision appears to have evolved from a crime involving kidnappers who attempted to collect a ransom in bitcoins late last month. Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗) asked a legislative hearing to declare the currency illegal. He has also pledged to work with the country’s central bank and local authorities to crack down.

This FSC action follows the kidnapping of 68-year-old Pearl Oriental Oil chairman Wong Yuk-Kwan. According to news sources, he was allegedly abducted on September 20 and held for 70 million HK dollars (or approximately $5 million USD). He was eventually rescued during a join operation between Hong Kong and Taiwanese police.

This decision could put LocalBitcoins buyers and sellers in Taiwan in hot water.

Some Halloween Bitcoin joy

The spooky holiday is past, but perhaps there’s enjoy time to enjoy an image of a Bitcoin costume.

Posted by /u/puck2 on Reddit and hosted by BTCArtGallery.com.

Featured image credit: Dawson/Bloomberg News