As the US election comes to a close, an important milestone has been hit in the world of cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin hitting a new yearly high of $15,007.15 on 5th November. As a result, it’s produced an unprecedented 282% gain this year as it rebounded from its low of $3925.27 in March.
(Chart courtesy of Coindesk)
As seen from the chart, Bitcoin hit rock bottom in March just like other stocks and bonds as the global economy scrambled to find a solution to the growing pandemic, which was only worsening by the day. However, this gave Bitcoin the opportunity to bounce back and it did so with force.
The initial dip was bought up quickly by avid crypto fans and investors as they saw the discounted price, resulting in its return to pre-Covid levels. However, the more recent news has caused it to rocket up again, similar to its levels seen in 2018 where it reached the all-time high of nearly $20,000.
In August, the online payment services company Square decided to invest into the cryptocurrency. They invested a total $50 million, or 1% of total assets, giving them a total holding of 4709 Bitcoins. Square’s CFO Amrita Ahuja said that the reason for the investment was the growing adoption of the coin worldwide, with the cryptocurrency carrying real future use.
Ahuja also commented that their app “Cash App”, which is Square’s online payment app to transfer money, has seen a 600% surge in Bitcoin revenue so in order to support the growth, Square need to be committed to Bitcoin and its future in finance.
Similarly, PayPal made an important announcement in October, declaring that as early as 2021, their platform will allow users to transact using a variety of cryptocurrencies with the leading currency being Bitcoin. This disruptive announcement gave way to the present bull run we’re seeing now as this signifies a changing financial landscape, giving alternative currencies real world value.
Bitcoin has almost infinite room to expand into as it wouldn’t be farfetched to assume other online payment platforms will follow PayPal’s lead, giving way to further gains on the market. The future may be unknown but with a company of PayPal’s size taking the lead, they must see promise as they seek to remain innovative.
As a result of these new price levels, FOMO has begun to creep into investor’s minds now as we’re seeing increasing levels of market volume indicating more investors are trading the coin - a sure sign of the naïve retail investor desperately trying to join the party.
With more reason to invest than ever before, Bitcoin’s future is bright and looks to remain that way for some time now as it receives more attention than ever from the financial world.
However, cryptocurrency is arguably the most volatile asset class on the market with a prime example being Bitcoin’s free fall from nearly $20,000 to below $4000 in the space of just one year so caution must be exercised.