Market Wrap: PayPal Powers Bitcoin Past $12.8K as Ether Dominance Drops

Oct 21, 2020 at 20:29 UTC.Bitcoin blows past its previous 2020 high while ether's crypto market share dips from its 2020 high in September.

Bitcoin trading around $12,709 as of 20:00 UTC. Gaining 6.4% over the previous 24 hours.

The potential for bitcoin to be inserted further into consumer finance is what is helping its bull run, noted Zac Prince, CEO of crypto lender BlockFi.

"It's going to be an exciting 12 months ahead as bitcoin continues to expand further into consumer finance."

It is not just the PayPal news helping bitcoin trend higher, noted Micah Erstling, a trader at GSR. "It's promising to see bitcoin holding above the $12,000 mark with continued institutional interest and wider regulated adoption taking place," Erstling told CoinDesk.

The last time bitcoin hit this price level was back on July 10, 2019.

Several market analysts see bitcoin heading much higher before 2020 is over, including Katie Stockton, a technical analyst for Fairlead Strategies.

"Bitcoin has a good chance of reaching its $14,000 resistance mark for about a two-times gain this year as the market hasn't fully absorbed all the positive news.

As for derivatives, bitcoin open interest on CME, a venue for sophisticated investors that is often used to hedge risks, has been on an uptrend, noted William Purdy, a derivatives trader and founder of analysis firm PurdyAlerts.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was up Wednesday trading around $391 and climbing 6.2% in 24 hours as of 20:00 UTC.After hitting a 2020 high of 14% on Sept. 1, ether's share of the cryptocurrency market cap has declined.