Bitcoin Hits Record High as Experts Tout $100K Next Stop
Investing.com
Published Jan 07, 2021 03:24PM ET
Updated Jan 07, 2021 03:35PM ET
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – Bitcoin surged to a record high of $40,000 Thursday, and experts say the popular crypto can continue to ride on the coattails of institutional demand and risk-on momentum to above a six-figure price target.
Bitcoin rose 10.48% to $38,515, though had hit a high of $40,383.4, taking its market capitalization, often used to gauge demand, to over $717 billion.
Bitcoin is "probably going to $100,000, then $150,000, then $200,000," Chamath Palihapitiya, chief executive of Social Capital, said in an interview on CNBC about how much longer the rally can continue. He added, however, that there was uncertainty over the time horizon when the popular crypto would reach those milestones.
Recent events including the eroding of trust in the public sector officials have stoked demand for bitcoin amid a growing need to have insurance that "provides an uncorrelated hedge," but eventually the popular crypto will "transition into something much more important," Palihapitiya said.
Signs are already beginning to emerge that bitcoin is on the cusp of evolving beyond its use as a hedge.
PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) chief executive said its users will be able to use cryptocurrencies [available on PayPal] as "a funding source later this year to buy at any of our 28 million merchants … their promise is to use modern technology to enhance the utility of payments."
In October last year, PayPal, with over 300 million active users, announced that it had entered the cryptocurrency market, allowing its users to buy and sell bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts.
The strong demand from users has seen bitcoin buying and selling volumes on PayPal's platform rise by more than 500% in the last two months, with transaction volumes rising from around $20 million in November to more than $100 million, according to Paxos-owned ItBit, PayPal's exchange provider.
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