Bitcoin keeps rising amid the increased sentiment from both institutional and retail investors. The coin has good chances to update its all-time high at $19,487. This significant improvement in investor interest was kindled by the events of recent months.
Fidelity Investments has launched a Bitcoin fund. Square (NYSE:SQ) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) poured billions of dollars in BTC. And one of the most notable events for the crypto community was the addition of the cryptocurrency service by the PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL). In October, PayPal announced that its customers will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrency directly via the PayPal apps. The service became available to users in the United States from Nov. 12.
Today, the excitement that drives demand for bitcoin is observed everywhere, which in turn, drives further growth with no attention to fundamental factors whatsoever. Just like in 2017, when Bitcoin went through a massive hype and its rate skyrocketed amid all this huge fuzz.
Let us recall that Bitcoin was created in January 2009, at the height of the financial crisis. It was positioned as an alternative to traditional fiat money. Its turnover is organized through the connected but independent network of computers that cannot be controlled by any government or central bank. The BTC network implies a limited supply of coins, which makes it immune to inflation. This is one of Bitcoin’s main competitive advantages, which is widely considered as a safety net against inflationary risks in the context of unprecedented monetary stimulus to support the global economy.
The last time Bitcoin was just as popular in the 4th quarter of 2017 when its rate almost quadrupled and approached the $20,000 market. Back then, the market wasn’t ready for such a meteoric rise of the innovative crypto industry. A lot has changed. Investors believe that this time around, the BTC/USD bullish rally could easily outperform the 2017 BTC’s gold rush.
First, the regulatory environment has become much more transparent. Regional and federal authorities in the United States, including the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission, have established guidelines for treating virtual currencies, which allowed companies such as CME (NASDAQ:CME), Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE:ICE), and Fidelity Investments to render services to buy and sell cryptocurrency.
That being said, while the market remains euphoric on expectations that Bitcoin will continue its bullish rally and may well skyrocket to $100,000 in the future, the BTC’s immediate target, for now, is located at $20,000.