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It seems like the trend of consecutive all-time highs isn’t stopping anytime soon, as Bitcoin has sailed over $20,500 and has its sights set on $21,000.
Bitcoin Breaks the $20,000 Barrier
On CEX.io, a popular Bitcoin exchange, the price of just one bitcoin has broken through $20,000 with no signs of stopping. This may seem insignificant, as it only one exchange, and on top of that, we’ve seen Bitcoin prices skyrocket over the market price in illiquid regions, such as Nigeria. Nigeria specifically saw $22,00 prices on local exchanges when the price of Bitcoin for the rest of the world was around $16,000.
CEX.io hitting $20k is a huge deal, however, as it is the first BTC/USD trading pair to break the ceiling and sustain a $20k+ trade price. Other more popular exchanges, such as GDAX and Bitstamp, are hot on CEX’s heels as their markets are showing prices in the mid-$19,000’s.
Exchanges Seeing Record User Sign-ups
Bitcoin’s bull run over the past two months has nothing but momentum behind it, as top exchanges are reporting record levels of new users. Coinbase and its exchange, GDAX, has been rattled to its core as the team tries to deal with the $1+ billion in transaction volume it is currently experiencing. Bitstamp’s CEO, Nejc Kodric, had this to say about the recent influx of users on their site:
Please understand that we currently have over 100,000 new accounts opened daily. It is challenging to cope with such surge. We are expanding our capacity to on board clients faster but this takes a bit of time.
— Nejc Kodrič (@nejc_kodric) December 16, 2017
As always, time will tell if this recent price rise will continue or will Bitcoin crash as so many people believe. Recent announcements of future protocol upgrades to Bitcoin, such as a functioning lightning network coming soon next year and Schnorr signatures are nothing but bullish for Bitcoin. Along with that, many traditional investment banks are beginning to offer Bitcoin Futures trading for the public. 2018 will be an exciting year.
Where do you think the price of Bitcoin will go from here? Let us know in the comments below!
Image courtesy of CEX.io, Shutterstock
