The price of one bitcoin rose above $20,000 on Dec 16, 2020. The new all-time record caps a year of gains for the world's most valuable cryptocurrency.

The value of all bitcoin in circulation is now around $380 billion. No single event seems to have pushed bitcoin's value over the $20,000 mark. But more and more companies, institutions, and wealthy individuals have started to see it as a worthwhile long-term investment, driving demand upward.

A software company called MicroStrategy has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into bitcoin in recent months. It recently announced it was raising another $400 million to buy bitcoin. Square announced a $50 million bitcoin investment in October. The same month, PayPal announced support for bitcoin, providing an on-ramp for retail investors.