Bitcoin is once again the center of attention in the markets as its value breaks $28.000 USD per unit, marking a new all-time high (ATH) for the cryptocurrency industry.
Bitcoin (BTC), the leading asset in digital markets, entered an uptrend again this weekend, which led its price to surpass $28.000 USD for the first time in history. In fact, the price of Bitcoin reached a total value of $28.335 USD, as shown by the data platform CoinGecko; and although at the time of writing this note its price dropped slightly, the cryptocurrency continues to mark an upward trend, with a value of $27.210 USD.
Source: CoinGecko.
As we can see in the chart, the cryptocurrency's performance has been exceptional, whether viewed by hour, day, week, month or year. On Friday, Bitcoin started at $23.600 USD and a few hours later its value was $24.500 USD, growing by more than $1.000 USD on the same day. On Saturday the 26th, its price began oscillating between $24.600 and $24.700 USD, then a few hours later it broke the $25.000 and $26.000 USD barrier and closed the day at a price of $26.570 USD. Yesterday, Bitcoin continued to grow in the morning hours, exceeding $28.335 USD; and although it dropped to $26.300 USD a few hours later, the cryptocurrency rose again, currently worth $27.200 USD.
Without a doubt, Bitcoin has been one of the most profitable cryptocurrencies on the market in 2020, with a return of almost 280% that led it to triple its value, compared to the beginning of the year, when 1 BTC was worth around $7.350 USD. Likewise, Bitcoin's market capitalization also reached a new historical value, exceeding $505 billion at the time of this edition.
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Twitter goes crazy with Bitcoin's new high
Amidst the holiday cheer and Bitcoin's new ATH, the crypto community is going crazy on Twitter, filling the social network with positive messages that encourage society to learn more about the potential of Bitcoin; and also, the damage that the current financial system has caused.
Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, stated that If everyone understood the true value that Bitcoin holds for humanity, then the price of the cryptocurrency would be between 1 million and 10 million dollars per unit..
For its part, Krish Adavi, highlighted that Bitcoin has proven to be a solid and reliable protocol, with limited emission and, therefore, should be at least 1/10 of all the trillions of dollars printed in the world. This as an alternative to fiat in the beginning. Likewise, Anthony Pompliano, said that BTC's energy to reach a new all-time high is what keeps him excited and within this industry.
Michael saylor, the star of institutional investment this year through MicroStrategy, took the opportunity to invite to society in general to avoid a “fiat tragedy” and harness the potential of Bitcoin today.
Bitcoin at over $320.000 USD per unit on Livecoin
On Twitter, several users showed unusual data about the value of Bitcoin this weekend. While the cryptocurrency reached a new all-time high that we all know, in Livecoin, cryptocurrency exchange platform, Bitcoin was trading at no less than $320.000 USD per unit.
However, the unusually high figure was the result of a hack of the platform, as indicated the creators of the project on Twitter. According to the explanation, Livecoin suffered a hack and lost control of all its servers and nodes, so they recommend users not to use the platform's services to avoid losing their funds.
“We are under a carefully planned attack, which has been prepared, as we assume, over the past few months. We have lost control of all our servers, backends and nodes.”
Livecoin also notes that its social media accounts were also compromised, urging users not to trust information spread through them. The developers indicate that they only partially control the interface, which allowed them to publish the notice on their official website.
Although Livecoin claims to be working to recover its servers, nodes and funds, many users they speculate that it is an exit scam. The co-founder of YellowBlock, known as "Cryptorangutang", notes that no matter what happens, users should not try to earn $ USD with the quote that the platform shows of 320K for BTC, because “It is very likely that the funds will remain stuck.”
This rally is no longer like the one in 2017
Several Bitcoin analysts point out that the big difference between the BTC bull rally this 2020 and the bull rally seen in 2017 is due to the fact that much of the money being invested in Bitcoin comes from reliable sources, which are marking a position in the cryptocurrency for the long term.
As we have already mentioned in this journal, 2020 will be remembered as the year in which institutional investors began to place their trust in Bitcoin, as a more reliable investment asset than gold; and as a reserve asset of value against the devaluation of fiat money. Pascal gauthier, Ledger CEO, points out that in 2017 what was seen was a crazy bull run in the retail sector, but this 2020 the institutional bet is serious, consolidating the value of Bitcoin in the markets. For his part, Chainalysis, the intelligence and analysis firm in blockchain, points out that this 2020, the investment in Wallets individuals with less than $1.000 USD almost doubles the figure from 2017, with 38 million transactions so far this year.
Other possible events that are probably causing the rally and favoring the price of the markets are the improvements in scalability and security of the network, the subsidies to its developers so that they continue strengthening the protocol, and its arrival at DeFi.
BTC expectations for 2021 are growing
Despite the 3,9% drop in the price of Bitcoin after reaching a new all-time high, the crypto community's expectations for the cryptocurrency this coming year remain high.
Many institutions, such as One River y microstrategy, have confirmed that in 2021 they will continue to increase their investments in Bitcoin, something that will undoubtedly favor its value. Also, the arrival of more Bitcoin mining companies is a good sign for the cryptocurrency, as its network will continue to strengthen itself as the most robust and powerful network in the world. Marathon Patent Group announced the acquisition of 10.000 ASIC devices for BTC mining; Riot Blockchain, which is also publicly traded, executed a purchase order for 15.000 ASIC devices and Core Scientific, one of the largest providers of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain infrastructure in the United States, announced the purchase of 59.000 ASIC devices. These, and many other events, indicate that Bitcoin will see, in 2021, a positive and favorable year to continue its growth and development.
Likewise, deribit, the well-known Bitcoin derivatives exchange recently announced the launch of $100.000 USD Bitcoin futures, expiring in September 2021; and more recently announced the launch of $120.000 and $140.000 USD BTC futures, although it did not specify the expiration date of these new futures.
Willy Woo, a well-known BTC trader, believes that the cryptocurrency will reach $100.000 USD per unit, and could even reach $200.000 USD. However, these are just estimates that should not be considered as investment advice, as no one can say with certainty what the next value of Bitcoin will be in the future.
Continue reading: The biggest achievements of the crypto industry in 2020
