In the last 24 hours, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) rose by more than 10%, breaching the $15,000 handle for the first time since January 2018, and reaching a new 2020 high at $15,950.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets shows the BTC/USD pair briefly rose to $15,950 before retracing to $15,500. According to crypto analytics platform Messari, Bitcoin has now spent more than 20 days above the $15,000 barrier and 19 days above $15,109. This represents roughly 0.4% of the crypto asset’s life since it was created in 2009.
“People will never again say Bitcoin is dead,” said Grayscale CEO Barry Silbert in response to the recent price movement.
Bitcoin’s bullish behavior comes amid breaking news that the United States Department of Justice will be seizing more than $1 billion in Bitcoin from an unnamed hacker who breached a Silk Road wallet.
Cointelegraph reported on Wednesday that the anonymous crypto user had moved more than 69,370 BTC — roughly $1.08 billion at current pricing — marking it the first time anyone had transferred assets associated with the darknet market since 2015.
At the time of writing, U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden is six electoral votes away from victory, with officials continuing to count ballots in Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada. Many industry experts are predicting continued volatility among cryptocurrencies and the stock market until a winner is determined.