Reuters is reporting that the 20 percent jump in Bitcoin price is due to an anonymous buyer snapping up $100 million in BTC.

Christmas came early this year as Bitcoin price jumped roughly 20 percent in the Asian market today. Many are wondering what triggered this massive movement for the world’s foremost cryptocurrency. While one could hope it was greater adoption or favorable legislation, it appears that a single person may be responsible.

Buying Order Causes Bitcoin Price Surge

Earlier today, Bitcoin jumped to a five-month high in Asian trading, crossing $5,000 for the first time since November 2018. The price has stabilized since then as BTC is now trading at $4,719. Still, this marks a 13.52 percent increase over the last 24 hours.

The reason for this surge is being attributed to a single anonymous buyer. Reuters is reporting that a computer-driven order was executed across multiple exchanges in which roughly $100 million in Bitcoin was bought. Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, chief executive of BCB Group, says the order was carried out across Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitstamp. He says:

There has been a single order that has been algorithmically-managed across these three venues, of around 20,000 BTC. If you look at the volumes on each of those three exchanges – there were in-concert, synchronized, units of volume of around 7,000 BTC in an hour.

The Bitcoin price jump also helped fuel a boost in altcoin prices. Charlie Hayter, founder of CryptoCompare, says the surge in BTC price was accompanied by 6 million altcoin trades within just a single hour, leading to a sea of green in 24-hour values.

Price Jump Due to April Fool’s Joke?

While some are attributing the jump in cryptocurrency prices to the anonymous buyer snapping up $100 million in BTC, others are not so sure. Bloomberg is reporting that some are speculating that the rise in price is due to an April Fool’s joke.

Yesterday, some outlets reported as a prank that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had given approval to two Bitcoin ETFs. (The SEC had not but actually had given itself an extension about making a decision regarding a potential rule change that would allow the listing of Bitcoin ETFs.)

Some believe that this story fueled a huge burst of optimism about the future of Bitcoin (and its price), leading to the price climbing dramatically. Despite the potential of an April Fool’s joke being the cause of the price surge, a cryptocurrency industry official still sees good things. Julien Auchecorne, chief operating officer at XBTO International, says:

The bounce is not enough to reset crypto winter as we have no major new products and last year’s big breakthroughs are still in their nascent stage. Sure it was a joke but it showed that the hope is for inflows and institutional infrastructure.

Do you think the jump in Bitcoin price was due to the massive order by one buyer or was it due to an April Fool’s joke? Let us know in the comments below.

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