Bitcoin Seeing Consolidation But Could Flirt With Record $20K Mark Before Christmas, Says Analyst

Bitcoin traded above $15,500 at press-time, forging a trend of consolidation before a push towards the $20,000 mark before the end of December, according to analysts. 

What Happened: Most major altcoins were in the red for the 24-hour period preceding press time. Ethereum (ETH) was down 0.9% at $457.77 and Chainlink (LINK) fell 3.53% to $12.80.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) fell 2.65% and 1.83% to $253.34 and $58.77 respectively. 

XRP (XRP) declined 0.33% to $0.26.

“We expect short-term volatility alongside even more powerful upward trends, flirting with $20,000 before year’s end and, if the stars align, $50,000 to $80,000 by the end of 2021,” Jehan Chu, managing partner at Kinetic Capital told CoinDesk.

Others like Joel Kruger, a currency strategist at LMAX Digital, think that Bitcoin is due for a correction after the massive surge over the last two months.

“Bitcoin is overbought after surging through critical resistance at $14,000, which suggests we could see a period of correction and consolidation,” Kruger told CoinDesk. He expects the “market to establish above $20,000 in 2021.”

Why It Matters: In the past two months, Bitcoin has run up 68.6% between July 12 and Nov. 12, while in October alone the apex cryptocurrency spiked 28%. 

The surge in the cryptocurrency during the elections has been compared to the 2016 election cycle.

On Nov. 5, Bitcoin was hovering near the $16,000 levels after gaining 12% in a single 24-hour period but it still trailed Ethereum in year-to-date gains. 

While Bitcoin has returned 117.8%  YTD gains, Ethereum has surged 253.42%.

Price Action: Bitcoin traded 1.3% higher at $15,637.88 at press-time.