The price of bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency in the world by value, on Wednesday, crossed the much anticipated $20,000 price milestone it set in 2017 leading prominent leaders in the market to predict even bigger runs in 2021.
Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno, a global cryptocurrency exchange with a presence in more than 40 countries, told BusinessDay via email that the surge to $20,000 in 2020 is different from that of 2017 given that this year the build-up to the milestone followed a consistent increase rather than on sharp spike. The consistency sets up bitcoin extremely well for 2021 and clearly lays the path for the next leg up in bitcoin’s price cycle which could potentially see it reach $50,000 or even $100,000.
“Bitcoin breaking the $20,000 barrier is a significant milestone, but like with any record-breaking event, it will prompt the question; what’s next? In a year of economic uncertainty, bitcoin hasn’t wavered, outperforming the likes of gold and other stocks and shares, so a further increase in 2021 is certainly on the cards,” Swanepoel said.
Bitcoin is trading at $20,628 as of press time on Wednesday. The surge was reportedly driven by investors frenzied buy activities on different exchanges. Data provided by CryptoQuant an on-chain crypto analytic firm showed there was an unusual spike in the number of stablecoin inflow addresses for all exchanges, an indicator of “extreme buying power,” on Wednesday.
