The recent Bitcoin price increase is one of the few truly awesome things that happened in 2020. On the 5th of November, Bitcoin closed at a little over $15,000 (₦7 million). After this, the countdown to $20,000 (₦10 million) started. It was 2017 all over again and it felt like something huge was coming.
But why now? Afterall, the world waited for 3 years as all the big predictions of 2018 were met with disappointment. Even analysts no longer argued with loud voices ?. 2020 has been…different but somehow, this has affected Bitcoin positively. So let’s look at a couple of things that drove Bitcoin’s sudden price increase this year.
1. The Economic Hiccup of Covid-19
In January 2020, when Covid-19 was still strange and distant, many people didn’t know how it would affect Bitcoin. They were still holding out, trying to see just how serious the virus would get.
By March, when global lockdowns and travel bans had become normal, holding cash instead of Bitcoin seemed like the smart thing to do. And the result of this was a sharp drop in the price of Bitcoin as people sold their stash.
2. The Paypal Surprise
As a platform used by 87.5 percent of online buyers, with 286 million active users, and 22 million merchants globally, Paypal is the Zeus of payments. Yet, this platform that has been focused on traditional payment channels has adopted cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin surged after the announcement that Paypal would allow people buy cryptocurrencies on their platform. Even more interesting is that the payments giant will allow merchants accept crypto payments. With its large number of users, this could bring a lot of recognition for Bitcoin by non-tech people in the near future.
3. The Grand Awakening of Institutions
On the 12th of September 2017, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan called Bitcoin a Fraud at a Barclays investment conference.
On the 9th of January 2018, Jamie Dimon said he regretted ever calling Bitcoin a fraud. He also stated that Governments might not be ready for how big Bitcoin will become.
Over the last 3 years, there have been several examples of people who have changed their minds on Bitcoin. With the sentiments changing, more people are willing to put their money in Bitcoin.
It will take a while for banks to come on board but mainstream companies like Square and Paypal are already jumping into Bitcoin investment. Fortunately, this has contributed to the Bitcoin price increase we’re seeing.
