Bitcoin surge provides early Christmas present for enthusiasts
Marketing analytics company reports an 80.8 per cent correlation between Bitcoin prices and Google searches
Christmas has come early for Bitcoin, with its price reaching $7,500 (£5,700) on Monday 23 December for the first time since the start of December.
Bitcoin’s surge could be down to the so-called Santa Rally, where the stock market increases during the last week of December, through to the first two trading days in January.
There are, however, more sophisticated explanations. Research by marketing analytics company SEMrush also found an 80.8 per cent correlation between Bitcoin prices and Google searches. There appears to be a pattern of searches for Bitcoin climbing immediately ahead of holidays.
As a result, Bitcoin climbed by 20 per cent during the four days preceding Thanksgiving, while the Fourth of July holiday saw an increase of 14 per cent.
While Bitcoin is still way off its 2019 high of $12,920, which it reached in June, this increase is a serious improvement from the start of 2019, when it traded below $4,000.
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At the time of writing Bitcoin is back down around $7,380, but some analysts predict it could rally to $8,000 in early 2020.
Other cryptocurrencies have also experienced pre-Christmas price gains, including Ether, XRP and Bitcoin Cash.
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