No… Bitcoin’s Price Did Not Set an All-Time High. Here’s Why

Several crypto news sites (and mainstream media outlets) excitedly declared that Bitcoin set a new all-time high on Monday… but did it?

It might be a little too early to crack open the champagne — for several reasons.

There’s disagreement over the record price that BTC managed to hit in December 2017. While CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index puts this figure at $19,783, CoinMarketCap data tells a different story… and suggests the world’s biggest cryptocurrency actually reached $20,089.

All of this is relevant when we take a look at Nov. 30’s price activity.

Here’s how CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index shapes up (Photo: CoinDesk)

According to CoinDesk, BTC has managed a 24-hour high of $19,920.53. That means, as far as it’s concerned, there is a new price record. However, if we’re going by our historical data, Bitcoin was still about $170 off the mark.

So… why does CMC believe that BTC’s record high in 2017 was higher? Well, it’s because our methodology for making calculations involves a volume-weighted average of market pair prices. Focusing on markets with higher volumes stops the stats from getting skewed.

In a nutshell then, no: Bitcoin has not set a new price record. However, there’s three things we’ve now learned:

1. Bitcoin came pretty close to an all-time high

2. At least it managed to set a new record for the highest-ever monthly close

3. BTC’s price has fallen sharply since then anyway

What’s happened?!

As our chart shows, there was a lot of drama on Tuesday morning as Bitcoin neared its record price — like Harry Potter stretching out in vain as he tries to grab the Golden Snitch.

Bitcoin had two attempts at a new all-time high before it fell (Photo: CoinMarketCap)

But over the course of two hours, BTC fell by about 7% against the U.S. dollar — losing $1,000 in just 10 minutes. Such a swift and brutal rejection at $20,000 suggests that bulls have their work cut out if they want to enter a new price discovery phase.

Reaction to the rollercoaster ride on Crypto Twitter has been… well… mixed.

After the slump, @CryptoBull wrote: “Worth noting that a $1,000 swing is just 5% now. Adjust accordingly.”

Meanwhile, crypto skeptic Peter Schiff tweeted: “Bitcoin pumpers assured HODLers that once #Bitcoin made a new high, momentum investors would rush in to buy. That was part of the pump to keep the little guys on board while the big guys dumped. Bitcoin made a new high, but instead of new money rushing in, old money cashed out.”

(Again… our data suggests Bitcoin did not hit an all-time high.)

Let’s debunk some other misconceptions…

Over on CoinMarketCap Alexandria, we’ve got plenty of in-depth articles that can help you make sense of the crypto markets… even during times of incredible volatility.

In this article, we break down five common misconceptions about Bitcoin — it’s an entertaining read, and it’ll certainly be enlightening if you’re new to the space.

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