BitPay Exec: ‘Something Unforeseen’ to Push Bitcoin Over $20K in 2020

Bitcoin (BTC) will reach its highest price ever this year due to “unforeseen” events, which will draw in new buyers, one senior cryptocurrency industry executive says.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Jan. 8, Sonny Singh, chief commercial officer at payment processor BitPay, claimed BTC/USD would pass its all-time highs of $20,000 in 2020.

Singh: a few buyers make a big difference

The reason, however, would remain unknown until the bullish surge kicked in.

“Something unforeseen that could happen could really move it faster,” he summarized.

Supporting his prediction, Singh pointed to historical trends. In 2015, the Greek sovereign debt crisis sparked gains for Bitcoin, while last year saw the sudden announcement of Facebook’s Libra digital currency and a worldwide reaction from lawmakers and the wider community.

More recently, rising tensions between the United States and Iran were attributed by some commentators and news media to BTC price rising around 20% over the past week. One publication noted that this may be due to Bitcoin being “free from state interference or geopolitical risk.”

The net result of all such events, he explained, was a small number of new buyers entering the Bitcoin space:

“I don’t think people actually went and sold their GD stock and all that and bought Bitcoin, but I see what happens is just a little bit of people start buying Bitcoin and that, with technical trading, really bumps it up and makes it go a lot higher a lot faster.”

Is the second time lucky on BTC price?

Singh almost successfully called Bitcoin’s 2019 high of $13,800. At the height of the 2018 bear market, when the cryptocurrency traded at just $3,100, he went on record to forecast a $15,000-$20,000 price tag at some point in the coming twelve months.

$20,000 nonetheless remains on the more optimistic end of the spate of recent price predictions from cryptocurrency figures.

As Cointelegraph reported, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said he expects $12,000 this year, while veteran trader Peter Brandt considers a bearish $5,500 likely in July.

By contrast, entrepreneur John McAfee recently reneged on a potentially compromising wager with himself which calls for Bitcoin to trade at $1 million by 2021.