It hadn’t even been a week. Inside 48 hours, bitcoin prices dramatically changed, this time – finally – to the upside. In fact, the shift was so jarring that I had to update my last article for Crush The Street to incorporate the swing. Even then, just a few hours later, my post seems dated.
Of course, we’ve seen this picture before. In the last major run up in bitcoin prices, the king of cryptocurrencies briefly toyed with the $20,000 level. It was a fleeting moment, though. At that point, FOMO or the fear of missing out rapidly transitioned to “oh no!”
Looking back through the benefit of hindsight, financial experts and analysts will claim that no support existed for bitcoin prices. Built mostly on speculation, and apparently lacking truly practical and tangible functionalities, cryptocurrencies faced a date with inevitability.
However, something seems different about this rally…
Real Demand Backs Up Bitcoin Prices
During the last major bull run, very few people knew about cryptocurrencies and the blockchain prior to the valuation explosion. What they saw was an immense opportunity that everybody else was seemingly advantaging. In other words, FOMO.
But that’s just a trendy way of saying speculation. And we all know from countless historical examples that speculation cannot sustain a rally indefinitely. As a result, the correction that we saw in cryptocurrencies was merely a natural, healthy event.
This time, though, people do know about cryptocurrencies. When bitcoin prices collapsed following the late 2017/early 2018 fallout, the initial response from the general public was that of a traditional bubble bursting. But no bubble-pop recovers within a two-year period!
In other words, real demand is backing up this rally: people know about the blockchain, and most importantly, trust it.
Look Out $40,000 Bitcoin!
In just the time that I wrote this piece, the price of the cryptocurrency jumped some $400. Later, it gave back some two grand. This is a fast mover, to say the least.
However, I’m confident that bitcoin will hit new all-time highs, moving well beyond the $20,000 level we last saw. It’s just a matter of human psychology, really: after the concept of the blockchain has been established, the sky’s the limit for this emerging technology.
Now, I don’t really know where the next leg up will take us. Perhaps $40,000 is conservative, or perhaps it’s a reach. Either way, the new rally is already here.