Bitcoin hit $24,680 in a brief leap around 12.00 UTC. At the time of this writing, BTC remains just a touch above $24,000.
The BTC all-time high (ATH) made for a nice holiday greeting. Gemini Exchange co-founder and crypto bull Cameron Winklevoss tweeted his regards after the peak hit:
Rollercoaster Week
Just days after hitting new ATH’s, bitcoin reached a new peak on Dec. 25. While not the $25,000 present some were asking for under their tree on Christmas Day, the $24,600 handle at least probably puts that figure psychologically in reach.
No XRP Grinch for Bitcoin
The jump also comes after cryptocurrencies in general recovered from a body blow. On Dec. 23, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened a lawsuit against Ripple.
The SEC claims that Ripple’s XRP is a commodity. BTC hit short-term lows after the announcement around $22,700. However, bitcoin, driven by the influx of institutional investors, has returned to its highs rather quickly.
XRP, which had been flirting with $0.60 on Dec. 20, bottomed out at just below $0.23 on Dec. 24 and is now in the mid-thirty-cent range.
Who Has BTC in Their Stockings?
The ATH news comes after Glassnode published a tweet indicating just how broad-based bitcoin is now. According to its chart, there are over 800,000 wallets with a bitcoin holding of over 1.0 BTC as of Christmas Eve.
The amount surprised some observers, considering that there are 7.8 billion people. However, that also compares to a total of over 33 million addresses with non-zero balances.
Christmas 2021 on the Moon?
The ATH is a nice Christmas present for bitcoin hodlers. Will it be the low for 2021? In the opinion of Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal, it could be. Lark Davis released on Dec. 24 an interview with Pal.
In it, Pal makes the case that this post-halving cycle is different from previous ones. The major change in the market structure, he says, is that institutional investors are present. This is hardly news.
What Pal pays attention to, though, is the effect institutional investors have on the market. He sees less volatility moving forward. He also expects to see exchange-traded funds appear as companies look to avoid paying Grayscale’s premiums.
Looking forward to the next cycle, gains should be lower due to the changing market landscape. And this time? Pal says that if bitcoin acts the way it did in the last two cycles, the peak is at one million dollars.
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