It was a particularly merry Christmas for bitcoin holders, who saw the leading digital asset soar to a new all-time high.
Its price surged to $24,578 at 7 pm Hong Kong time before falling back under $24,000 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin’s seemingly inexorable rise has been widely attributed to a rapidly growing number of corporate investors buying more on a daily basis than miners produce. Key players include PayPal, Square, MicroStrategy, Grayscale, Fidelity, and even the American insurance giant MassMutual.
Meanwhile, altcoins also rose on Christmas day, with Ether hitting $632 and XRP, which had plunged due to fears over a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against Ripple, rebounded to $0.36 from its low of $0.22.
Crypto observers were clearly excited by the sudden Yuletide price action, which many believe is just the beginning of a spectacular bull run that could continue for many months.
The prominent crypto YouTuber Crypto Daily saw it as an indication that a $100,000 price prediction for bitcoin in 2020 is way too low. He tweeted: “#Bitcoin rallying during an illiquid public holiday. $100k is FUD now.”