The Present Bitcoin Bull Run and the Future of Crypto

Now that the price of a single BTC reached 16,000 USD, all in the wake of the same token being 4,000 USD this year, there is no denying that a bull run is underway. The price has exploded in particular during the last couple of weeks and now, it seems that most are eyeing the range of 18,000 as the last big hurdle towards the shattering of a record. Once the price takes over 20,500 or something in that neighborhood, the new record for a BTC token will be officially set.

The hype and excitement around this is both high and in some ways, subdued. After all, this is a territory that the media space and with it, public consciousness, already visited in 2017. Back then, before the eventual onset of crypto winter, the public and those in the crypto community really did not know what to expect in terms of the future movement of the bitcoin cryptocurrency network, but also the entire domain of the combined crypto market.

Many were certain that 20,000 USD is just the start of the wider bull run that would eventually finish at double that price. However, it was not to be. Quickly, the market took on a completely reverse trajectory, slashing down the price and taking bitcoin, along with other crypto tokens, directly into bear territory. Today, as the price moves up in big strides once again, the future of crypto and its overall path in 2021 and beyond is being thoroughly assessed by many industry leaders and insiders.

Crypto Summer

In the eyes of many analysts, even numerous ones coming from the traditional markets, the moment that ended the crypto winter took place more than a year ago. In the late spring of 2019, the price of cryptocurrencies began moving northwards. This took place after many months of the bear market and overall stability and low volatility of most major crypto tokens. As these price hikes took place, there was a consensus that the long wait was over – yet, at the same time, like it usually happens in domains like esports, social media, and other modern mediums – the trajectory did not immediately mean a steady prolonged course.

Instead, with the dwindling of the summer months, the price increase of bitcoin, ethereum, and other big blockchain networks dwindled down as well. The bull market many were desperate for simply did not materialize. That is why so many right now are wondering the same thing: with these continued increases of token price, what could be in store for the collective crypto market? The answer to this question is complex and a half-chance ordeal. This is also why it is better to focus on the definite trends, not a flip of the coin process that is as valid in determining the future path of the price of BTC as any analysis.

Global Hardships

Unlike the previous price increases in the crypto domain, this one has the unmistakable tailwind from the extremely uncertain year. From geopolitics to the economy and even social matters, 2020 has been a year unlike any other in living memory. With the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, there is no nation in the world that could call itself insulated from the numerous problems that are both ongoing and present themselves as a huge potential problem in the coming 2021. Initially, with the crash of March 2020, some began arguing that crypto is nothing but tightly connected to the traditional markets.

Yet, its rebound and best performances in three years show that this correlation is neither total nor absent. That is one of the main causes of the bullish potential that is present in the mainstream public: bitcoin is secure in its existence and with the ongoing financial crisis, everyone needs an alternative. The fact that this alternative is full of distinctive elements, as well as a high level of volatility, presently does not make a case against using it as a hedge. Also, it appears that for the first time possibly since the start of the network more than 10 years ago, investors of all sizes are entering the market.

Tech Advances

After the bitcoin price collapse took place in 2017, many concluded that this is what the network was meant to do – present an exciting experiment, but eventually fold in on itself and vanish. The mass media was in particular ready to take on that narrative, showcasing a range of traditional market experts and economic pundits who mostly stated that nothing rebounds after a fall like that. However, all of them have been working on a hypothesis of a traditional historic bubble burst that took place in the previous several hundred years. Bitcoin, as well as the wider blockchain cryptocurrency market, did not and does not operate using the same parameters.

Instead, as the crypto winter took hold, many developers began working. In the same period, things like autonomous organizations and stablecoins emerged. Massive markets in their own right also took shape, so today, DeFi or decentralized finance is a huge element of the blockchain technology that is operating in the real world. Even central banks are now working diligently on their own digital tokens, with entities like People Bank of China already conducting transfers using a digital yuan. That technological continuous push forward is one of the elements that brought about the potential for the present price rise.

Disruption

Throughout all of its activity, bitcoin, and with it the entire cryptocurrency market, remains a force that is making waves in the traditional marketplace. It continues to capture the imagination of the public and that in turn drives investment, that as of recent, is more and more becoming actualized on an institutional level. For better or worse, bitcoin is fast shedding its image on an underground or incredibly tech-savvy niche.

Instead, it is going through a process similar to the internet of the 1990s – it remains the same in its technical sense and adds further features (becoming even more complex) but the ordinary users are finding their own ways of entering the same field. With bitcoin, price volatility and major moves up and down of the price will keep making their own headlines and generate controversy. But, the future of crypto seems to keep pushing forward unrelentingly.