Bitcoin – the world’s number one cryptocurrency by market cap – has shot past the $18,200 mark at the time of writing. Yesterday, the currency was trading for about $400 less, which in turn, was an $800 jump from its previous price of around $17,000. This was a $2,000 drop from its previous price of $19,000, the highest it had been all year.
Bitcoin Continues to Recover From its Recent Fall
This is just more proof that the fall was likely a major fluke of sorts. A jump to $19,000 is quite a step for a currency that spent the latter half of last year and the first half of 2020 trapped in the doldrums. Thus, bitcoin is reaching new pinnacles, but it has also done so quite swiftly, having gone from just under $4,000 to the $19,000 mark within a matter of eight short months.
This is a huge jump for the asset in a relatively small period, and as we’ve seen in the past, bitcoin is typically slow to maintain any sort of serious momentum when it spikes very quickly like that.
But what we have seen from bitcoin this year is a whole new sense of maturity and resilience that it’s never exhibited before. The currency has reached strong peaks in the past, such as when it struck the near $20,000 mark in late 2017. However, as we saw, bitcoin struggled to maintain whatever momentum it had during that time and within the first five weeks of the next year, the asset found itself dropping by more than $10,000.
This doesn’t seem to be the case for bitcoin anymore. In fact, 2017’s run occurred at a time when the economy was really growing. This time, however, the financial markets were battered by the coronavirus pandemic, inflation and other harsh circumstances that really knocked assets such as stocks, gold and of course, cryptocurrencies, on their behinds. Despite everything that happened, bitcoin managed to surge like nobody ever expected it would have.
Newfound Growth and Strength for the Digital Asset
In addition, the asset has seen its reputation grow and expand. The currency is no longer simply viewed as a speculative asset worth trading for small or short gains. Rather, it is now looked upon as a store of value. This is the first time, arguably, where large institutions, family offices and similar organizations are openly admitting to purchasing bitcoin and utilizing it to hedge wealth and potentially keep themselves stable for the future.
Companies such as MicroStrategy, Square and Stone Ridge have all invested quite a bit of money into the king of crypto, and we’re likely to see several others follow suit in the coming years. If bitcoin can maintain its present momentum and newfound reputation, we’re likely to see bitcoin reach a new all-time high relatively soon.
