A year ago, BTC price broke a historic high of US$ 20,000

Exactly a year ago, on December 16, 2020, the cryptocurrency market was in celebration. On that date, still amid fears of the Covid-19 pandemic, BTC (BTC) reached its all-time high.

After nearly three years, the leading cryptocurrency was once again quoted above US$ 20,000. More precisely, the price reached US$20,311 on the Bitstamp exchange. As a result, the new price exceeded the US$19,899 reached on the same exchange in December 2017.

This Thursday (16), a year after this historic milestone, the price of BTC is quoted at US$ 48,253, in other words, 237% above the record reached in 2020. However, the price has already set two new price records in this time course.

The first, at US$ 63,510, was reached on April 13, while the second (US$ 67,752) occurred on November 8, both in 2021. In other words, who bought BTC on December 16, 2020 and sold in November this year it profited no less than 333.5%.

Institutional acceptance led the BTC to new records

The reason why the 2020 appreciation did not result in a strong correction – unlike what occurred in 2017 – was the difference between the investor profile. If in 2017, enthusiasts and novices guided the bull rally, the 2020 movement was led by smart money.

This time, managers of large funds, billionaires and even stock exchanges got together and took billions of dollars to the market. Large companies such as Tesla and MicroStrategy have reinforced their investments in cryptocurrency.

At the same time, governments around the world printed money to deal with the crisis arising from the pandemic, which led to sharp increases in inflation rates. In the United States, official rates have reached their records in nearly 40 years.

In Brazil, the IPCA returned to double-digit inflation. The metric, unprecedented in the country since 2016, also boosted interest in BTC in our country. This demand, in turn, led to the approval of five cryptocurrency ETFs listed on the Brazilian stock exchange.

As a result, the number of global investors has grown exponentially. In November, a survey showed that 39% of Brazilians have investments in cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, only 28% invest in shares on the stock exchange.

Where does the price go?

However, it is undeniable that the price of BTC operates in a downtrend, especially in the short term. With the end of the year approaching, will cryptocurrency have the strength to seek new records like the one in December 2020?

For the trader Wellington Silva, from WS Trader, the indicators do not point to a depletion of the buying force of the BTC. On the contrary, most of the big investors, known as “whales”, increased their positions during the correction period.

In this sense, there was an increase in the number of addresses with more than 10 thousand BTC stored. In historical terms, both are considered bullish indicators. However, this movement should not take place immediately.

“The current fund of the high flag is in the region of US$ 34,000 and US$ 36,000. But it is likely that we will see the price of the lateralized cryptoactive over the next few months before continuing the strong increase”, explains Silva.