Bitcoin enthusiasts and traders were greeted with the best news yet. The world's most valuable virtual currency breached $20,000 mark for the first time in history, with its returns almost tripling this year.
The spectacular spike comes after a severe crash in March, which dipped 25 percent in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. According to market data firm Coin Metrics, Bitcoin traded 5.6 percent higher to hit around $2,600 on Wednesday. Another report by Bloomberg says the virtual cryptocurrency spiked 3.8 percent to $20,154.
"We have a new line in the sand and the focus shifts to the next round number of $30,000. This is the start of a new chapter for Bitcoin. It's a narrative the media and retail crowd can properly latch onto because they've been noticeably absent from this rally," said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder and managing partner of Nexo, a crypto lender.
The spike in Bitcoin is not without reason. Major Wall Street companies such as S&P Global and Cboe Global Markets have taken keen interest in crypto market. Also, Guggenheim Partners LLC recently revealed its intentions to invest up to 10% of its $5.3 billion Macro Opportunities Fund in a Bitcoin trust, CNBC reported.
Other big names to have bolstered the Bitcoin rise, include investors like Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller, who moved their assets to the crypto market. Even tech firms like Square and MicroStrategy bought Bitcoin.
Déjà vu?
Many investors, traders and industry watchers are well aware of the rise of Bitcoin back in 2017. The cryptocurrency had rallied to nearly $20,000 three years ago, but only to witness a sharp plunge to $3,000. Many sceptics called it the Bitcoin bubble finally burst.
However, crypto experts are claiming that the 2020 spike of record-high Bitcoin rate is nothing like 2017. Reason – the spike is driven by institutional buying and not retail speculation and hype, CNBC added.
