Bitcoin passed the $20,000 threshold on Wednesday, the first time it has reached this level since the cryptocurrency was created in 2008.
It jumped to as high as $20,440, according to latest estimates, climbing by 4.5 percent on 16 December.
Bitcoin breaking out to fresh all-time high above $20,000. Here we go... $BTC #cryptocurrency #trading pic.twitter.com/koGarviRbg
— Morpheus Trading - Swing trading stocks since 2002 (@MorpheusTrading) December 16, 2020
Despite the ongoing pandemic and curtailed business activities worldwide, the digital asset grew 170 percent in 2020.
The currency saw some sharp drops during July and September, when it fell below $10,000.
Since then, the asset has been on the rise, hitting a two-week high in December and eventually breaking a record set by its previous advances in December 2017.
Back then, the currency stopped short of reaching the $20,000 mark.
#Bitcoin is has reached a new all-time-high, having busted through 20k. pic.twitter.com/ZrfPcnYzXj
— Tyler Winklevoss (@tyler) December 16, 2020
The record-breaking news was met with excitement by the Gemini exchange co-founder Cameron Winklevoss:
I just finished meditating and when I looked at my phone I was greeted with this. We did it! #Bitcoin has surpassed its all-time high — congratulations to all you HODLers out there. pic.twitter.com/6blOuEkAWY
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) December 16, 2020
The analysts believe that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin have been especially attractive to investors because of their supposed immunity to inflation risks and decentralisation. Bitcoin has not been subject to any administrator or central bank policies, and has been deriving value from a so-called "mining" process.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs, however, remained sceptical about the currency's overreaching powers, saying in May that bitcoin did not belong to an "asset class" and was generally "not a suitable investment" despite looking appealing because of "high volatility".
The bank's Investment Strategy Group also suggested back then that the currency was "conduit for illicit activity" and did not provide “consistent diversification benefits” to its users.
Bitcoin was invented in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto - a pseudonym which has been claimed by many people since the cryptocurrency's foundation. Since then, the digital currency has been making advances through peer-to-peer transactions recorded by a blockchain.
