Bitcoin Surpasses $20K for the First Time in 12 Years Amid “Santa Rally”

Bitcoin, the world’s first and the largest cryptocurrency has achieved another milestone of surpassing $20,000 on Wednesday, December 16, amid a Santa rally just a week before Christmas. According to the reports, Bitcoin (BTC) rose as much as 7% to $20,787 on Wednesday.

According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin started Wednesday hovering around $19,500 and remained at these levels until afternoon. The coin started to take off and at around 18:45 UTC+5:00, crossed the $20,000 mark. This recent Santa Rally is still pushing Bitcoin towards upwards of $20,700.

Bitcoin on the day of this storysnapshot 16 Dec 2020

Day open

$19,426

00:00 UTC

Past 7 days

+6.0%

from $18,324

Since the open

+232%

$64,494 · 15 Nov, 07:20 UTC

Record close

−1.4%

$19,696 · Nov 2020

Data: Binance, CoinGeckoLive Bitcoin price →

Bitcoin’s $20,000 milestone was not unexpected. Traders were already gearing up for a so-called Santa rally in the last week before Christmas as Alex Krüger, a cryptocurrency trader and economist, talking to Forbes, said:

“Given that bitcoin has been moving up or down 2.4% a day on average during the last two months, breaching $20,000 by Christmas is reasonable.”

Bitcoin’s cross above $20,000 is its second major milestone in recent weeks. On November 30, The world’s largest digital-asset rallied as much as 8.7% to $19,857 after setting a prior peak in late 2017.

The bitcoin price has added an impressive 180% since January, also helping other notable crypto assets like Ethereum, Ripple’s XRP, Litecoin (LTC), and Chainlink (LINK) to make triple-digit gains through the year. Bitcoin has recorded this massive surge despite a severe crash in March that saw it lose 25% amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Bitcoin as Store of Wealth

The major factor behind this massive surge is the narrative that Bitcoin could act as a store of wealth to hedge against inflation as the central banks around the world continue to flood markets with the stimulus to fight the coronavirus-induced economic shock.

Large institutional investors and Wall Street firms are investing big sums in Bitcoin. As reported, NASDAQ-listed U.S. business intelligence company MicroStrategy bought $250 million worth of Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and part of its treasury reserve. The firm has also recently sold about $400 million of convertible notes to buy more Bitcoin.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey-managed Square also purchased $50 million worth of BTC as part of their investment strategy in October. Guggenheim Partners LLC, a New York-based investment firm, has also announced that it might invest up to 10% of its $5.3 billion Macro Opportunities Fund in a Bitcoin trust.

Many billionaire U.S. investors like Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones now owns Bitcoin.

According to crypto enthusiasts, $20,000 is just the beginning and the focus has already shifted towards the next round number of $30,000.

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