The price of Bitcoin (BTC) exceeded $ 25,000 on December 25, reaching a new $ 25,020 Bitstamp record and exceeding Visa’s market capitalization in a historic milestone.
Visa, the financial services giant, is valued at $ 460.06 billion according to Yahoo Finance. As of December 26, Bitcoin was comfortably hovering above $ 462 billion.
But aren’t Visa and Bitcoin a suitable comparison?
Bitcoin is essentially a peer-to-peer software protocol, while Visa is a for-profit corporation. Some may argue that a direct comparison between the two is not adequate, as they are fundamentally different.
But Bitcoin surpassing Visa’s rating is symbolic above all, and Bitcoin’s current market capitalization, theoretically, would make it the thirteenth largest company in the world.
Meanwhile, throughout 2020, institutional interest in Bitcoin increased. At a point where institutional demand for Bitcoin continues to increase exponentially, overcoming Visa’s market capitalization could further increase confidence around Bitcoin between institutions.
More accredited institutions and investors are gaining exposure to Bitcoin through the grayscale and Bitcoin CME futures market. Grayscale’s assets under management are close to $ 17 billion, as the amount of open contracts in CME’s Bitcoin futures market remains consistently above $ 1 billion.
Visa has also shown more enthusiasm for cryptography in recent months, following Square and PayPal’s support for Bitcoin.
For example, Wirex, the cryptocurrency debit card issuer Visa, has become the main member of Visa in Europe. Cuy Sheffield, senior director and head of cryptocurrency at Visa, said:
“Digital currencies have the potential to extend the value of digital payments to more people and places. We are excited to work with innovative Fintechs like Wirex and enable their customers to use digital currencies with more than 61 million merchants on Visa network.”
Data in the chain give hints of where BTC is heading next
In the short term, traders and network analysts say Bitcoin’s trajectory remains optimistic.
Analysts at In the block identified $ 23,069 and $ 23,377 as the main levels of support for BTC in the near future. They I wrote:
“Bitcoin has been able to support more than $ 23,000. The IOMAP indicator supports this premise by showing a strong level of support in the range between $ 23,069 and $ 23,377.1, where almost 900 thousand addresses previously acquired 796 thousand $ BTC. “
As long as Bitcoin remains above critical support areas, traders anticipate that the cryptocurrency market will see a broader recovery.
Michael van de Poppe, a full-time broker on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, expects the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies to soon surpass his record high of around $ 780 billion. He said:
“The #crypto total market capitalization looks extremely high, as it has been testing the bullish region of all time. The levels to be observed are US $ 550 and US $ 450 billion. Any of these regions are opportunities to buy diving. If that happens, the next run will bring the market above ATH. “