On Wednesday, the value of Bitcoin hit a record high for 2020. The increase in valuation happened after PayPal announced its plans to integrate cryptocurrency into its online payment platform.
According to a report by Reuters, PayPal became one of the largest U.S. companies to allow consumers access to cryptocurrencies, after it announced on Wednesday that it would allow customers to hold Bitcoin and other virtual coins in its online wallet.
This move, according to experts, is believe to be that which could help Bitcoin (and rival cryptocurrencies) gain wider adoption as viable payment methods.
The price of Bitcoin rose by 8% after PayPal’s announcement on Wednesday. This, according to a report by Business Insider, took Bitcoin to an intraday high of $12,817.17.
In similar reports, Cointelegraph reports that Bitcoin’s weekly gains stood at over 15% overnight on Wednesday, and reached $13,200 before reversing to press-time levels of $12,800.
The new valuation is well above its previous 2020 record of $12,473; bringing Bitcoin to its highest level since July 2019.
This week alone, Bitcoin, which is the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has risen more than 11%.
On Tuesday, Bitcoin broke through the $12,000 level before the furnace of its rise was fueled by PayPal’s game changing announcement. PayPal announced it would allow customers hold and trade with Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrency) at the 26 million merchants on its network.
The last time that Bitcoin traded at around $13,000, and even when it hit its own all-time highs of $20,000, was in late 2017.
As the world’s number one online payments platform, PayPal’s Bitcoin integration will make the digital coin’s reach extend to its roughly 346 million customers worldwide.
“Our global reach, digital payments expertise, two-sided network, and rigorous security and compliance controls provide us with the opportunity, and the responsibility, to help facilitate the understanding, redemption and interoperability of these new instruments of exchange,” said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.
Although, the price of Bitcoin is still far from its all-time high of $20,000 in 2017, the present value is still remarkable, giving that the gains come just seven months after Bitcoin was trading below $5,000.