Bitcoin soars past $33,000, its highest ever

Bitcoin has exploded since October, climbing from its long-time $10,000 per bitcoin support level to never-before-seen highs of almost $35,000.

The bitcoin price added over 300% through 2020, a rally that included a 50% crash in March amid the coronavirus meltdown. Meanwhile, ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, has rallied even harder—soaring 600% over the last 12 months.

https://medium.com/the-bachelor-s25e01-online/premiere-the-bachelor-series-25-episode-1-full-episodes-c975103e8223
https://medium.com/the-bachelor-s25e01-online/abc-the-bachelor-series-25-episode-1-full-episodes-bc3fdde1d643
https://medium.com/watch-the-bachelor-s25e01-online/full-episodes-the-bachelor-series-25-episode-1-premiere-c2ce51e9db40
https://medium.com/watch-the-bachelor-s25e01-online/full-episodes-the-bachelor-series-25-episode-1-full-episodes-b553f771da11

Now, as bitcoin and cryptocurrency investors try to call exactly how far this already-huge rally will run, ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin has revealed what he thinks is an "underrated" bull case for crypto.

"One of the more underrated bull cases for cryptocurrency that I have always believed is simply the fact that gold is lame, the younger generations realize that it's lame, and that $9 trillion has to go somewhere," Buterin wrote in a recent 2020 summary blog post, referring to the total value of the world's mined gold.

Bitcoin's reputation as "digital gold" has grown in recent months, bolstered by a flurry of big-name investors that have named bitcoin as an emerging inflation hedge.

"If the gold bet works the bitcoin bet will probably work better because it’s thinner, more illiquid and has a lot more beta to it," billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who, along with fellow investor George Soros, famously bet against the British pound in 1992 and made massive profits, said in November.

Meanwhile, repeated surveys (as well as endless and often hilarious anecdotes) have found younger people are far more inclined to buy bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies than older groups. And most of those surveys are from before the coronavirus pandemic forced governments around the world to heap even more debt on the shoulders of young.

We're now in "a world where blockchains and cryptocurrencies are well poised to play an important part, though for reasons much more complex than many people think, and having as much to do with cultural forces as anything financial," Buterin wrote, arguing "public-blockchain-based solutions [will] just keep quietly moving forward and gaining actual adoption."

Elsewhere, other influential voices in the technology and cryptocurrency space have echoed Buterin's comments.

"I believe that governments will respond to all of these economic challenges by continuing to print fiat money without restraint and by taxing and regulating innovative new companies to protect old and dying companies," Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist, wrote in a blog post outlining his predictions for the coming year.

"This will lead investors to continue to allocate capital to new forms of money (crypto) and new ways of creating and financing innovation (decentralized projects and organizations)."

After an explosive start to the year that's seen the broad bitcoin and cryptocurrency market add a staggering $100 billion in just a few short days, 2021 looks set to be a big one for crypto.

New York (CNN Business)Bitcoin has been flirting with the $30,000 mark for weeks, and finally passed that record-setting level Saturday. The virtual currency is now valued at above $33,000, an all-time high.

Bitcoin (XBT) has tripled in value during 2020, growing steadily even as the stock market plunged in the early days of the pandemic. Investors have been drawn to it, as well as other cryptocurrencies, as the US dollar has weakened.

With the Federal Reserve expected to leave interest rates near zero for several more years, bitcoin may continue to win new fans.

Well-known names are adding to bitcoin's mainstream appeal. Rick Rieder, the chief investment officer of fixed income BlackRock (BLK), has said the digital currency could replace gold. Payment giant PayPal (PYPL) has embraced bitcoin, after showing reluctance to do so.

This isn't bitcoin's first price spike. It had a strong run in 2017 and hit a then-record high of more than $20,000. But its price plummeted to just over $3,000 by early 2019 as China continued its crackdown on cryptocurrency businesses. It then rebounded to $8,000 in May 2019. It soared past $20,000 in December, climbing rapidly in the past month.

Bitcoin experts remain bullish on the currency.

"When any asset climbs in price this fast for an extended period of time I become cautious, and I'd urge anyone trading BTC to not get caught up in the euphoria," said Nicholas Pelecanos, head of trading at cryptocurrency firm NEM, who nevertheless predicts bitcoin could rise to $50,000 by Valentine's Day. "I believe we are just at the beginning of what will be an immense bull market."

Yet even as bitcoin is becoming mainstream, the currency is still commonly used by fraudsters, giving it negative attention. Last July, hackers took over Twitter accounts belonging to Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Barack Obama in an apparent effort to earn income by scamming people out of bitcoin.

Due to the currency's decentralized and nearly anonymous nature, it can be hard to get money returned after losing it in a scam, as there is no central authority -- such as a bank -- to intervene. Decentralization has made cryptocurrency a favorite for scammers, even as it appeals to technologists and investors alike.

CNN's Paul R. La Monica contributed to this report.