On October 12, some countries observe Columbus Day while others, particularly in Latin America, celebrate their indigenous cultures. In the world of cryptocurrency trading, this day is remembered in relation to a Bitcoin transaction that took place a decade ago. In 2009, a software engineer from Finland sold more than 5,000 BTC to an early exchange platform known as New Liberty Standard. That trade, which was executed on October 12, was settled for $5, and it marked the first time Bitcoin was treated as an investment asset. Eventually, the original cryptocurrency became a commodity as BTC/USD started being traded as high as $20,000 across major exchanges in late 2017.
These days, 10 years after the aforementioned October 12 trade, Bitcoin is recovering from a bearish period that took it from a record-high value of $20,000 in late 2017 to a low near $5,000 last year, and from a recent recovery past $10,000 to a sell-off close to the $8,000 level. Trading volume has picked up in recent days, and a couple of fundamental signals are pushing BTC/USD closer to $8,500. Finding a support level closer to $10,000 is once again feasible for Bitcoin.
The most significant event suggesting that BTC is on the right track towards an October rally boils down to a large transaction. A so-called "Bitcoin whale," meaning an investor with substantial capital, deposited 1,000 BTC into a cryptocurrency wallet. Shortly after this transaction was spotted by blockchain observers, BTC/USD climbed more than 3%. It should be noted that institutional investors are increasingly participating in the digital currency markets thanks to the introduction of new instruments such as the Bakkt futures contract, which is managed by the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.
Another situation that is restoring investor faith in cryptocurrencies is a recent announcement by UNICEF. The international charity, which is an agency of the United Nations, is now accepting monetary contributions and donations made with digital currencies. On the same day, UNICEF made this announcement, Bitcoin jumped from around $8,200 to more than $8,600. It is important to note that this is not the first time UNICEF has mentioned cryptocurrencies as part of its operations; in 2018, the agency delivered emergency funds to Syrian refugees using digital currency tokens, and this was decided because fiat cash was considered to be too risky for distribution in a war zone.