- Bitcoin hit a new record high of $24,661 on Friday.
- Investors on social media platform declared a “Merry Bitmas.”
- Bitcoin continues to be one of the market’s coronavirus winners, with investors optimistic it will continue to soar and even pose a threat to safe havens like gold.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Bitcoin is soaring once again, hitting a new record price of $24,661 on Friday, with investors declaring “Happy Bitmas,” on social media.
Known as the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has been a surprise success during the pandemic, quickly becoming a competitor to gold in some portfolios.
This week alone the cryptocurrency has gained 3.15%.
Bitcoin has a current market cap of about $350 billion, while that of gold’s stands at roughly $10 trillion.
Blockchain.com observed a 40.46% growth in wallet creation year-to-date on its crypto exchange. That is about 18 million new wallets created on the site since December 2019.
However, Bitcoin investors — known for their unquenchable optimism — think this is just the start.
Bitcoin’s market cap could reach $1 trillion sometime in 2021, according to Garrick Hileman, head of research at Blockchain.com, if investors take its reserve currency status more seriously.
Even Goldman Sachs is taking the cryptocurrency seriously, noting that is poses an increasing threat to Gold.
“Gold’s recent underperformance versus real rates and the dollar has left some investors concerned that bitcoin is replacing gold as the inflation hedge of choice,” strategists led by Jeffrey Currie said in a note.
“While there is some substitution occurring, we do not see bitcoin’s rising popularity as an existential threat to gold’s status as the currency of last resort.”
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