Bitcoin set a new intraday record on Monday, reaching a high of $19,786.24 following a wave of investors looking to cash in on the cryptocurrency’s lucrative profitability. Previously, the intraday record for BTC was $19,783.21, set in 2018.
While significant segments of the market have been dampened by the COVID-19 pandemic, BTC has managed to triple in value throughout 2020. Since September the currency has been up 97%. Trading volumes have also increased, reaching nearly $50 billion a day compared to $18 billion in September.
As the Wall Street Journal note, BTC’s rise occurred alongside a wider market resurgence following trillions of dollars of stimulus being pumped into the global economy to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While traditional investment options such as bonds offer small returns, big investors have pivoted to BTC as a high-risk, high-reward investment.
“You have the weakened dollar, [the] enormous growth of central bank balance sheets and questions about whether it will or won’t cause inflation,” said Société Générale forex strategist Kit Juckes. “It’s another beneficiary of the collapse in real yields.”
