Anyone tracking the price of Bitcoin in 2020 and into 2021, will be well aware of the incredible volatility that saw BTC crash early in the Covid pandemic – before entering one of the most remarkable bull runs every seen in the financial world. Here’s a recap on the history of BTC’s journey from alarming crash to impressive recovery and 2020 peak.
BTC March 2020 Market Crash
Bitcoin began 2020 with a price around $7,000 and was hovering around $9,000, before the world’s financial markets crashed early in the Covid pandemic. As stocks, shares and commodities plummeted in price in March, Bitcoin whales dumped their holdings, crashing the price of BTC to a 2020 low of $4,916.78 on March 13, 2020 – tumbling from $9,160.39 earlier in the month.
2020 BTC Price Volatility & Road to Recovery
When stocks, shares and commodities crashed in price due to global lockdowns and uncertain socio-economic predictions – the impact on BTC and the crypto world was very uncertain. However, after the panic selling and plenty of investors and traders taking advantage of the Covid carnage, markets including Bitcoin, gradually started to correct themselves. In the case of BTC, the correction was initially very rapid. Indeed, from March’s 2020 low of $4,916.78, BTC’s price had already rebounded back to $9,160.39 by March 7 2020 – a perfect illustration of astute traders dumping and pumping Bitcoin.
The price of BTC dipped again to $6,423.61 on April 1, 2020, but then gained a surprising level of consolidation and low volatility from the end of April to early November, rising from $8,784.96 on April 30, 2020, to $13,571.24 on November 3, 2020.
| MONTH | HIGH | LOW |
| January 2020 | $9,501.38 (January 31, 2020) | $6,965.72 (January 3, 2019) |
| February 2020 | $10,630.37(February 15, 2020) | $8,793.50(February 27, 2020) |
| March 2020 | $9,160.39 (March 7, 2020) | $4,916.78 (March 13, 2020) |
| April 2020 | $8,784.96 (April 30, 2020) | $6,423.61 (April 1, 2020) |
| May 2020 | $9,999.93 (May 8, 2020) | $8,568.88 (May 12, 2020) |
| June 2020 | $10,211.23 (June 2, 2020) | $9,007.14 (June 28, 2020) |
| July 2020 | $11,113.66 (July 31, 2020) | $9081.44 (July 6, 2020) |
| August 2020 | $12,301.19 (August 8, 2020) | $11,063.50 (August 3, 2020) |
| September 2020 | $11,926.69 (September 2, 2020) | $10,174.62 (September 4, 2020) |
| October 2020 | $13,646.02 (October 28, 2020) | $10,552.04 (October 4, 2020) |
| November 2020 | $19,157.16 (November 25) | $13,571.24 (November 3, 2020) |
| December 2020 | $28,891.61 (December 31) | $18,250.47 (December 12) |
Late 2020 BTC Bull Market & Record High
Despite the rapid recovery in Bitcoin’s price from the March dump, for the majority of summer and autumn 2020, BTC price hovered in a zone between $10,000 and $13,000 – still a some way off the (then current) all time high of just over $15,000 reached in 2018. However, the 2020 Bitcoin bull run, saw BTC price inflate from $13,571.24 on November 3, to $19,157.16 on November 25 and an incredible $28,891.61 on December 31. The late 2020 Bitcoin price surge, saw a huge increase in demand for crypto exchange accounts and cold crypto wallets, as millions globally entered the market for the first time.
What fuelled the 2020 BTC Bull Run?
The incredible increase in Bitcoin price in late 2020, was arguably fuelled by a combination of factors – creating something of a ‘perfect storm’ in the crypto sector.
Along with a generally unstable economic scene across the world, including excessive Covid debt, we’re also in a rapidly changing world that’s at the cusp of the 4th Industrial Revolution that is embracing ESG investing, particularly among millennial and gen x investors. While Bitcoin’s energy consumption might not make it very green for some, initiatives such as Square’s $10 million commitment to a Bitcoin Clean Energy Investment Initiative (offering support to companies in the Bitcoin ecosystem), demonstrates the fact that crypto is keen to evolve to reduce carbon footprint.
Another key driver of Bitcoin’s price surge in 2020, was Paypal’s enabling of customers to trade cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin), which was a huge endorsement that BTC and crypto is going mainstream. Similarly, many governments around the world began publicising their goals for digital currencies, such as UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, tweeting about crypto and stable coin infrastructure, in November 2020 – news that added further impetus for BTC investors.
The perfect storm for BTC price in 2020, was completed by retail investors seeking alternative markets, buoyed by furlough and stimulus cheques and increasingly influenced by social media platforms such as Twitter, Reddit and Youtube. While the future for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and blockchain start-ups and alt coins remains something akin to the rise of dot com companies, there’s no doubt that the information age is leading to a new breed of retail investors, who are helping to drive Bitcoin prices higher, while simultaneously supporting mass market penetration – along side the institutional presence of brands such as Paypal.
- Paypal crypto adoption
- Social media / alternative media
- Stimulus cheques / furlough
- Lockdowns
- Low interest rates
- Institutional money & media reports
- Awareness of changing socio-economics
- Increasing digitalisation
- Desire for alternative investments
- ESG investing & carbon
- millennial/gen X investors
2020 is likely to go down as a key year of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency world, potentially confirming that we’re heading towards a financial revolution. As the crypto ecosystem develops, BTC’s bullish performance continues into 2021 at the current time. BTC’s 2021 price predictions are attracting increasing numbers of new investors aiming to take advantage of a fast-changing world.
