The Bitcoin Express Sped Past $23k & is Gaining Speed
By: Justin Roberti
Tags: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Btc, Finance

The Bitcoin Express Sped Past $23k & is Gaining Speed

Image by ArtTower from Pixabay

If you know any crypto enthusiasts or follow any on social media, you probably have already heard — but on Dec. 17. 2020 Bitcoin rallied more than 12% to break the $23,000 for the first time on record.

The response among HODLers has been enthusiastic, to say the least.

“Finally, BTC is nearing its true value — and everyone who said I’d wish I’d bought BTC for $600 will be saying the same about BTC at $19,000,” said Jillian Godsil, Blockchain Chair, Keynote, Journalist, Broadcaster, CEO, and Writer of recently published blockchain book “Persons of Interest.”

What’s driving the Bitcoin train?

Bitcoin movements have been bolstered all year by institutional investors who view Bitcoin as a deflationary asset to hedge against global financial nastiness in 2021.

Who called it first? If I had to guess, I would have said Tim Draper. He at least deserves the prize for making the frequently aggressive price predictions. But his Twitter account has a sticky post that links to his son Adam Draper’s prognostication in 2013.

Adam Draper reposted his first Bitcoin article from March 4, 2013.

“The first time I heard about Bitcoin was actually from Brian Armstrong founder of Coinbase… As Brian explained the concept to me, it began to remind me of another trend that happened 15 years ago. Bitcoin, right now, reminds me of the times of Napster. Through Peer to Peer technology, Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker made the process of attaining music, simple and free… I feel this is happening with currency right now…”

Coinbase has made recent news by taking a daring “no comment” position on all matters political. But in this case, they enthused about the rise of BTC by announcing their ICO, which I’m sure they will be talking more about.

Adrian Pollard, cofounder of bitHolla said:

“The recent $20,000+ bitcoin price breakout has been 3 years in the making but two major factors contributed in 2020… First, most over-leveraged derivatives traders got wiped out in March when prices spiked down to $3,000 which broke the control derivatives market had on bitcoins price. The second major factor on price is that the type of investors today are much less likely to trade because the investors base are largely made of institutions like Guggenheim Partners who are looking to hold for the long term. However, there are still some doubters like David Rosenberg from Rosenberg Research that said that Bitcoin “is in a massive bubble”. But it is my personal belief that prices have not reached bubble territory as of yet because if you take Google search inquiries for Bitcoin into account the data shows that this breakout has largely gone unnoticed by the mainstream which in my prediction means Bitcoin price has a good shoot of reaching $30k before the year’s end.”

Jordan Anderson, COO of Bitbuy laid out the logic behind BTC’s continued rise in a pinned tweet from October.

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss who are purported to at least at one point hold 1% of available Bitcoin are understandably enthusiastic.

Which caused Ran Nuener of CNBC to raise an interesting question. No response from the Winklevosses to this tweet.

Ran Nuener, Host CNBC “Crypto Trader”

Of course, the price volatility of Bitcoin which has increased more than 190% in 2020 raises some questions about its intended role as a currency, not a commodity, which Roger Ver pointed out with some subtly with a plug for Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Roger Ver, Bitcoin Evangelist and Angel Investor

So, to those already riding the Bitcoin train, or just got on board, it is safe to say it has left the station with as much celebration as the Hogwarts Express a week before Christmas (which is when the students would be going home for the holiday, I guess, but let’s not dwell on the metaphor.)

Speaking of the holidays…

If crypto is to play a more mainstream role, as seems to be the trajectory it is on, it needs to be more of a citizen of the world — and that means supporting issues that are important to the non-wealthy.

To that end, the Salvation Army has announced it will accept Bitcoin this season.

NFT artist Darren Kleine(DKleine) is auctioning “12 Days of Zombie Christmas” fearing unique NFT holiday horrors for charity.

Blockchain-based invoice financing marketplace, Crowdz, announced it has partnered with generosity and giving startup Glow to create a new way for businesses to enable corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

“From our perspective, generosity can actually drive returns for the investing company’s bottom line, which positively benefits the community collectively,” Crowdz CEO and co-founder, Payson Johnston said.

If Johnston is indicating to achieve mainstream acceptance, blockchain technology must move beyond solving first-world problems for first-world customers, that seems to make a great deal of sense.

With just a week to go before Satoshi Clause climbs down our decentralized chimneys, we wait like kids before Christmas to see if our favorite cryptocurrency will reach new heights before the end of the new year.

Originally appeared in Benzinga.