Bitcoin reached an all-time high of more than $33,000 over the weekend thanks to growing interest from institutional investors.
Alden Bentley from Reuters reported:
Digital currency Bitcoin extended its record-smashing rally on Saturday, beginning the year with a surge over $30,000 for the first time, with ever more traders and investors betting that it is on its way to becoming a mainstream payment method.
The price of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency traded as high as $33,099 on Saturday, with almost all other markets closed over the first weekend in 2021. It was last up about 12% at $32,883.
CNN’s Shannon Liao wrote:
Well-known names are adding to bitcoin’s mainstream appeal. Rick Rieder, the chief investment officer of fixed income BlackRock (BLK), has said the digital currency could replace gold. Payment giant PayPal (PYPL) has embraced bitcoin, after showing reluctance to do so.
This isn’t bitcoin’s first price spike. It had a strong run in 2017 and hit a then-record high of more than $20,000. But its price plummeted to just over $3,000 by early 2019 as China continued its crackdown on cryptocurrency businesses. It then rebounded to $8,000 in May 2019. It soared past $20,000 in December, climbing rapidly in the past month.
MarketWatch’s Clive McKeef noted:
Investors have been attracted to the narrative that the cryptocurrency could act as a store of wealth amid rampant central-bank money printing in the past year to bolster an economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
PayPal PYPL, +1.16% recently allowed users on its platform to purchase bitcoin BTCUSD, -4.47%, as well as other sister cryptos like ethereum ETHUSD, 8.56%, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, 4.06% and Litecoin LTCUSD, 1.76%. Square’s SQ, -1.54% popular Cash App also allows users to buy and sell bitcoins.
This isn’t bitcoin’s first price spike. It had a rally in 2017 but its price slumped to just over $3,000 by early 2019 as China cracked down on cryptocurrency businesses. It then soared past $20,000 in December, climbing rapidly in the past month.
