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Bahrain Awaits Reception of 9 Million Saudi Tourists Post Coronavirus

The King Fahd Causeway | Asharq Al-Awsat
The King Fahd Causeway | Asharq Al-Awsat
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Bahrain Awaits Reception of 9 Million Saudi Tourists Post Coronavirus

The King Fahd Causeway | Asharq Al-Awsat
The King Fahd Causeway | Asharq Al-Awsat

Bahrain’s tourism and entertainment sector is preparing for the return of visitors, especially Saudi tourists, as Gulf Cooperation Council member states move towards easing COVID-19 preventative restrictions.

Tourists are patiently awaiting the reopening of the King Fahd Causeway which links Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. The bridge was closed on March 7 as part of the precautionary measures taken by Saudi Arabia to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

According to information received by Asharq Al-Awsat, the regular meeting of the Bahrain Coordination Committee pointed to the possibility of the reopening of the bridge on July 27, with the setting of strict protocols to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

Concerned authorities took the interruption of the movement between the two countries as an opportunity to complete development projects, the King Fahad Causeway Authority announced the continuation of the implementation of a comprehensive development and improvement plan for both the Saudi and Bahraini sides.

In a tweet, the Authority said that work is ongoing to launch the first phase of an e-payment system for the King Fahd Causeway gates on both sides.

The daily average number of travelers across the King Fahd Causeway is 75,000 passengers, while the Economic Development Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain - a government agency - is working to attract investments and diversify the Bahraini economy.

In 2019, Bahrain welcomed 11 million visitors, the vast majority of them were from Saudi Arabia. Around nine million Saudi tourists made up 88% of the total visitors to Bahrain.

The tourism sector, according to the Economic Development Board, contributes 6.3% of Bahraini GDP, with annual revenues of about $ 13 billion.

"The precautionary closure of the bridge to private vehicles has acted as a catalyst for long-planned upgrade work, while commercial drivers are still able to pass through each day enabling critical continuity for the logistics sector," Abdul Hakim Al Shammari, Chairman of Commercial Market Committee and Board Member of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), said.

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Bitcoin is at Doorstep of $100,000

Bitcoin tokens and a price chart are seen in this illustration picture taken November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/Illustration
Bitcoin tokens and a price chart are seen in this illustration picture taken November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/Illustration
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Bitcoin is at Doorstep of $100,000

Bitcoin tokens and a price chart are seen in this illustration picture taken November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/Illustration
Bitcoin tokens and a price chart are seen in this illustration picture taken November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/Illustration

Bitcoin topped $98,000 for the first time Thursday, extending a streak of almost daily all-time highs since the US presidential election. The cryptocurrency has rocketed more than 40% in just two weeks.
Now, bitcoin is at the doorstep of $100,000 and investors do not appear to be phased by gravity or any cautionary tales of the cryptocurrencies history of volatility, The Associated Press reported.
Cryptocurrencies and related investments like crypto exchange traded funds have rallied because the incoming Trump administration is expected to be more “crypto-friendly” than the outgoing Biden administration.
As of 8:30 a.m. ET, bitcoin traded at $97,466 after rising as high as $98,349 according to CoinDesk.
Yet cryptocurrency markets remain a wild place and what comes next is impossible to know. And while some are bullish, other experts are warning of investment risks.
Here’s what you need to know.
Back up. What is cryptocurrency again? Cryptocurrency has been around for a while now but have come under the spotlight in recent years.
In basic terms, cryptocurrency is digital money. This kind of currency is designed to work through an online network without a central authority — meaning it’s typically not backed by any government or banking institution — and transactions get recorded with technology called a blockchain.
Bitcoin is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency, although other assets like Ethereum, Tether and Dogecoin have gained popularity over the years. Some investors see cryptocurrency as a “digital alternative” to traditional money — but it can be very volatile, with its price reliant on larger market conditions.
Why are bitcoin and other crypto assets soaring? A lot of the recent action has to do with the outcome of the US election.
Trump has evolved from a crypto skeptic to a crypto champion and has pledged to make the US “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. His campaign accepted donations in cryptocurrency and he courted fans at a bitcoin conference in July. He also launched World Liberty Financial, a new venture with family members to trade cryptocurrencies.
Crypto industry players welcomed Trump’s victory, in hopes that he would be able to push through legislative and regulatory changes that they’ve long lobbied for. Trump also had promised that, if elected, he would remove the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, who has been leading the US government’s crackdown on the crypto industry and repeatedly called for more oversight.
Digital assets like bitcoin had posted notable gains in the months ahead of the election, mostly due to the early success of a new way to invest in the asset: spot bitcoin ETFs, which were approved by US regulators in January.
Inflows into spot ETFs, “have been the dominant driver of Bitcoin returns from some time, and we expect this relationship to continue in the near-term,” Citi analysts David Glass and Alex Saunders wrote in a research note two weeks ago. They added that spot crypto ETFs saw some of their largest inflows on record in the days following the election.
In April, bitcoin also saw its fourth “halving” — a preprogrammed event that impacts production by cutting the reward for mining, or the creation of new bitcoin, in half. When that reward falls, so does the number of new bitcoins entering the market. And, if demand remains strong, some analysts say this “supply shock” can also help propel the price long term.
What are the risks? History shows you can lose money in crypto as quickly as you’ve made it. Long-term price behavior relies on larger market conditions. Trading continues at all hours, every day.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, bitcoin stood at just over $5,000. Its price climbed to nearly $69,000 by November 2021, in a time marked by high demand for technology assets. Bitcoin later crashed during an aggressive series of Federal Reserve rate hikes aimed at curbing inflation. The collapse of FTX in late 2022 significantly undermined confidence in crypto overall and bitcoin fell below $17,000.
Investors began returning in large numbers as inflation started to cool — and gains skyrocketed on the anticipation and then early success of spot ETFs. Experts still stress caution, especially for small-pocketed investors.
What about the climate impact? Assets like bitcoin are produced through a process called “mining,” which consumes a lot of energy. And operations relying on pollutive sources have drawn particular concern over the years.
Recent research published by the United Nations University and Earth’s Future journal found that the carbon footprint of 2020-2021 bitcoin mining across 76 nations was equivalent to the emissions from burning 84 billion pounds of coal or running 190 natural gas-fired power plants. Coal satisfied the bulk of bitcoin’s electricity demands (45%), followed by natural gas (21%) and hydropower (16%).