It’s been almost three years to the day since the price of Bitcoin was close to breaking the $US20,000 ($26,526) ceiling and came crashing down. On Wednesday, the arbitrary milestone of hodlers’ dreams was finally achieved.
Bitcoin crossed the $US20,000 ($26,526) threshold this morning with its value rising around 6% at the time of writing. Increased oversight controls, greater institutional investment, nations planning their own digital currencies, and a major integration with PayPal have all played a role in the cryptocurrency’s market resurgence that’s seen its value quadruple since March. There’s also that whole apocalyptic plague raging all over the world that might have some investors thinking outside the box.
This is not a call for you or anyone else to go sink your life savings into riding Bitcoin for another wave. Again, the last time it came close to this kind of high, it proceeded to lose about 80% of its value within a year. Barron’s reports that Claude Erb, a respected market analyst who is known for his evaluations of gold, recently calculated that a fair price for bitcoin at the moment is closer to $US12,000 ($15,916). Is Erb right? No one knows.
Earlier this year, veteran cryptocurrency promoter John McAfee called Bitcoin “old, tired and worthless” but it appears that was just a dodge to get out of his pledge to eat his own genitals if the coin’s price didn’t hit $US500,000 ($663,150) in 2020. In the world of cryptocurrency, everyone has their own motivations and plays their own games.