Bitcoin exceeds $ 20,000 for the first time
Bitcoin is a hit today and exceeded the $ 20,000 mark for the first time in its history. Its value has almost tripled since the start of the year.
Since the start of 2020, bitcoin has jumped more than 170%, benefiting from growing interest from large investors. They are won over by its potential for rapid gains, its status as a hedge against inflation and the prospect of it becoming a common means of payment.
In late October, bitcoin soared after an announcement from PayPal. The online service announced that it offers buying and selling via cryptocurrency. Even if PayPal is a service for individuals, this decision has established a form of respectability for this asset with traditional investment funds. They had shunned it until then because of its extreme volatility.
Some investors, like hedge funds, have previously been put off by the opaque nature of the cryptocurrency market. But the tightening of surveillance of the sector in the United States has helped allay some concerns.
By 2017, bitcoin started the year at less than $ 1,000. The cryptocurrency had seen its price soar over the months before a real surge between mid-November and mid-December. The value had quadrupled in less than a month. After peaking at $ 19,511 on Dec. 18, prices had melted throughout 2018, ending at just over $ 3,000.
