In the last weeks we saw a major bull run in BTC price. It set a new all time high price in the end of November 2020 after three years of waiting. In 2017 the price looked like a bubble, which ended up bursting and added fuel in the thesis that BTC is a scam, which is not going to last. It was difficult to believe that BTC will (re)conquer its status as a separate and major asset class ever again.

In 2020 and after hitting a fresh ATH in November the story is already fundamentally different. The storytelling behind BTC and its price has never been stronger. I believe there are five major reasons or drivers behind this:

1. BTC is going mainstream.

Up to 2017 one had to be a real enthusiast in order to get BTC and keep it. Access to exchanges were more difficult and more insecure and risky compared to the present moment. Actually I missed a great opportunity to acquire my first Bitcoin in 2013, when Mt. Gox collapsed. This collapse actually killed my initial admiration of BTC and crypto as a whole and it took me some time to return to it again later in 2016. I also tried hobby garage mining, which unfortunately is not available for crypto enthusiasts like me.

Now everything has changed. One could get Bitcoin on numerous exchanges. Even major fintech companies added BTC possibilities in their service offerings - PayPal and Revolut to name a few. It is easier than ever to get exposure and add BTC to one's portfolio, which could be HODLed, traded, stored in cold storage or centralized exchanges.

Bitcoin and crypto are now common words and new is present in every possible media and in every corner of the world.

2. Major institutions embraced Bitcoin.

While the financial industry refused for years to recognize Bitcoin and crypto as a separate asset class, now every financial institution is forced to embrace it as an asset class. This ceiling has been broken forever. It is difficult for me to even fathom what I have been reading lately:

• JP Morgan claims BTC is taking over gold as store of value
• Morgan Stanley goes further to say that BTC may be a threat to the US Dollar itself
• Citi predicts BTC price may reach USD 318 000 in 2021. I will be personally waiting for the 1 million dollar price (prize)
• Even the conservative bank Wells Fargo admits BTC and crypto is no fad. While the bank may not yet be recommending its (retail) customer an advice to invest in Bitcoin, this is a major step forward.

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is already a commonly accepted name and huge number of people are following and its price premium to BTC on a daily basis.

Institutional embrace is and will be for the foreseeable future a major game changer for Bitcoin, its bull run and the fundamentals behind it.

3. BTC is become a real investment alternative not only for individuals, but now for corporations.

Microstrategy is the most prominent name in the game. I personally already find it questionable after the latest news that they will increase the note offering to USD 550 million. Microstrategy turns from a software company into a quasi BTC ETF, which I do not understand entirely. But this is not the emphasis - corporation are already willing to hold BTC as a separate asset class in their portfolios. It is not only Microstrategy and their probably excessive overdoing the situation. Actually Cointelegraph recently reported that over 800 000 BTC is already held by publicly traded companies alone. 

I would hold the opinion that this is now a major game changer especially when coupled with embrace and recognition of Bitcoin by major financial institutions.

4. Scarcity will always pay off.

This has been the strongest feature built in the BTC blockchain and I would like to express my strong believe that this is the real purpose for existence of Bitcoin. It opposes everything that fiat currency currently presents - it is scarce and decentralized. This is the the most important key! Nothing more and nothing less. This is why I came to like BTC in the first place and this is why I continue to believe in its storytelling. This is the strongest fundamental factor and the only one, which has not change since inception. I strongly believe that the present bull run is the actual result of Halving in May 2020. It will contnue and I am convinced we are seeing only the beginning.

I have commented quite a bit on this topic including recently:

• Bitcoin mining - profits rising again!
• Bitcoin mining - price follows hashrate or hashrate follows price?

The mining environment and Bitcoin network remain strong as ever and more competitive than ever. I have been concerned that mining is now becoming centralized, probably more centralized than I believed is necessary and I have been somewhat disappointed in this. However the fact is that the network is stronger than ever. This is another sign BTC has now reached a new level of the game.

I am absolutely convinced that price will always follow the hashrate and the stronger the network is, the greater the chance of a bull run is.

5. Last, but not least - BTC remains the benchmark of the whole crypto environment.

No doubt the crypto imprisonment has developed tremendously. I am amazed at the variety of projects, applications and different possibilities, which have arised since Bitcoin inception. I am tempted to seek the new winner and the future BTC killer sometimes, yet I haven't been able to find it. I have tried to trade a lot and not everything I hold in crypto is BTC, however I am now convinced that it will remain the standard, the benchmark and the leading sub-class in the whole crypto asset class.

And the conclusion is:

I would not like to give any one investment advice and please do not treat it this way. However this time around I am firmly convinced that the fundamental drivers in the Bitcoin story have dramatically changed. Not only changed, but they have tremendously improved. Even if we see a deep retraction from now (I am not fan of TA), I would continue to believe that these fundamentals would prevail and we actually have a long way to go in price. I will HODL and accumulate as I can.