Bitcoin crossed $20,000 for the first time on December 16 as bulls delivered an intense blow to long-extant sell walls.
Data from price trackers and exchange orderbooks showed BTC/USD rapidly gaining during trading on Tuesday, hitting highs of $20,600.
Bitcoin puts in a casual new all-time high
That level marked not only daily gains of more than 6%, but also a new all-time high for Bitcoin on multiple major exchanges.
At press time, the largest cryptocurrency was experimenting with never-before-seen levels amid intense volatility, having broken $20,500. Just hours before, it had traded at closer to $19,000 support.
Analysis of exchange orderbook data further showed that a large wall of resistance previously in place at $19,500 had significantly decreased, with just the area between $19,900 and $20,000 left to claim. The change marked a significant shift in sentiment — trader appetite was now zoning in on record-high price levels as an entry, not exit point.
“If this trend continues the second half of December could see $24k #Bitcoin with a retracement to $21k and then $35k in Q1,” Bill Barhydt, CEO of crypto wallet service Abra, summarized.
“Get ready for a hell of a ride!”
The positive mood received yet another boost late on Monday thanks to the latest news of an institutional player entering the market. Ruffer Investment, the UK-based investment giant, confirmed it had allocated 2.5% of one of its funds to BTC — worth $15 million.
“One recent addition, via one of the specialist managers appointed within the Ruffer Multi-Strategies Fund, has been bitcoin. This is primarily a defensive move, one made in November after reducing the company’s exposure to gold,” a letter to investors read.
“The exposure to bitcoin is currently equivalent to around 2.5% of the portfolio. We see this as a small but potent insurance policy against the continuing devaluation of the world’s major currencies. Bitcoin diversifies the company’s (much larger) investments in gold and inflation-linked bonds, and acts as a hedge to some of the monetary and market risks that we see.”
Ruffer joins an increasingly competitive corporate buying marathon, with industry leader Grayscale adding a total of 115,236 BTC to its assets under management in Q4 alone. The stash is equivalent to $2.2 billion.
“I’ll repeat… Bitcoin liquidity crisis incoming,” Danny Scott, CEO of UK exchange Coin Corner, added in accompanying comments.
Overall Bitcoin performance thus adhered ever closer to long-term quant predictions from one of its best-known models based on stock-to-flow. PlanB, the model’s creator, issued an updated version of the stock-to-flow chart which highlighted how BTC/USD was tracking its performance during the bull cycles in both 2013 and 2017.
He summarized:
“BTC price (red dots) moves nicely towards model line (white line), just like 2017 and 2013. And … do I see a little orange?”
