There is still a lot of speculation surrounding cryptocurrencies value in the market as skeptics still believe that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have no intrinsic value in the world. This past week, Bitcoin rose above $50,000 for the first time in its history since it hit the market back in 2010, trading at around $0.0008. Bitcoin is the world’s leading digital currency by market value and changing how currency is viewed in the world, allowing an alternative to a central bank-controlled currency.

In the recent weeks, Bitcoin has gotten a large boost from major companies. Firms such as Tesla and Mastercard have bought massive amounts of Bitcoin to open up their network to digital currencies. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla, revealed that it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and is planning on accepting the currency as payment for Tesla products. Musk moved his support for Bitcoin and a rather smaller cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, to Twitter calling them “The future currency of Earth.” Dogecoin started as a meme in 2013 but reached $0.08 during the Bitcoin surge. The jump into Bitcoin by large companies has sparked other companies to start thinking about following suit. Apple and Uber both announced that they are considering accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payments for their services.

Bitcoin’s market value propelled to over $1 trillion on Friday, February 19^th, 2021, toppling at a record $53,910 for a single coin. The large enterprise firm, MicroStrategy, is one of Bitcoin’s largest shareholders that bought into the digital currency before many corporations did. The firm raised $1.1 billion in debt on Friday and offered more than $600 million in convertible bonds to buy more of the digital currency. MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, believes that “Bitcoin is a much more stable asset class today” due to the fact that the currency used to be heavily leveraged.  “I think in 2021, you’re going to see that trend [Cryptocurrencies] continue” Saylor included. Saylor and Musk interacted on Twitter about cryptocurrency, which alluded to the rumor that MicroStrategy offered support in Tesla’s large transaction in buying Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin mania started back in 2017 when it exploded from $5,000 to nearly $20,000. Investors created the bull run based of retail speculation, losing more than 80% of its value the year later, whereas this trend is driven by demand from institutional investors. According to Forbes, “the biggest question mark surrounding cryptocurrencies future is regulation”, which has people convinced that it will hurt Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the market. Bitcoin’s recent surge has started to convince people that the digital coin is a legitimate asset and could one day take over the dollar. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies act as a safe-haven asset compared to the concerns of amplified government spending and future inflation that could decrease the value of the current dollar.

The future of Bitcoin looks bright to SkyBridge Capital founder, Anthony Scaramucci. A former critic and skeptic of Bitcoin, he went on to embrace and become a full-on supporter of the cryptocurrency. SkyBridge is a global investment firm that launched SkyBridge Bitcoin Fund LP in December 2020. The fund was created to provide exposure of bitcoin to mass-affluent investors. To launch, the company poured in $25.3 million to encourage investors and other companies to realize the capability Bitcoin has in our economy. In just two months, the company has invested over half a billion dollars in Bitcoin and their fund is “heading towards $100 million” in assets under management. Scaramucci believes that due to the recent popularity and legitimacy of the digital currency, the price of Bitcoin is going to reach $100,000 for one coin by the end of 2021.