After crossing the $20,000 mark on 16 December, Bitcoin continued its bullish rally and smashing through $25,000 for the first time on Friday. On Saturday 26 December afternoon, Bitcoin broke through the walls of $26,000 creating another new all-time high.
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The most popular cryptocurrency is not letting up as it breaks through $27,500 resistance today to create another record of $27,886.29 on Sunday morning as it eyes $28,000. Bitcoin seems to have found another gear in the past several days as it is breaking records after records.
Bitcoin is up by over 12% on Sunday morning. Year-to-date BTC is up more than 270%.
Bitcoin’s market dominance has scaled above 70% thus making it quite difficult for altcoins to enjoy the benefits of the bull run. The top cryptocurrency has managed to almost triple its price since the bitcoin halving in May this year.
Why is Bitcoin rising?
Several factors have affected the upsurge in the demand and the price of Bitcoin with one being the increased interest of Institutional Investors in the Cryptocurrency. Among them: Anthony Scaramucci’s Skybridge Capital ($25 million in December); MassMutual ($100 million in December); and Guggenheim (up to 10% of its $5 billion macro fund), according to coindesk.
Several analysts have projected that Bitcoin is just getting started. However, some have also projected that it is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
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Scaramucci has said he believes BTC is in the “early innings” and Saturday afternoon, crypto venture capitalist/bitcoin evangelist Tim Draper tweeted that the price of the leading cryptocurrency could rise ten-fold by the end of 2022.
This bullish movement was seen in 2017 although it was primarily carried by retail players and that was said to be the reason why bitcoin could not hold on to its price post breaching $19,000, unlike the recent rally which many said was spurred by the interest of institutional investors.
Nevertheless, Adam Back, co-founder of Blockstream pointed towards the fact that yesterday’s bullish rally was carried by retail players rather than big institutions.
The interest in Cryptocurrencies is growing, buoyed by the demand from large investors interested in its potential for quick profits.
Also, its recent support from PayPal as a form of payment has fueled expectations that it may gain more widespread traction as a payment method from the likes of Starbucks and Microsoft.
However, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey in October said “I have to be honest, it is hard to see that Bitcoin has what we tend to call intrinsic value,” as he has cautioned over its use as a means of payment. He added that “It may have extrinsic value in the sense that people want it.”
By: Ifunanya Ikueze