On November 16, 2020, Bitcoin traded at roughly $16,700 — a price level it had reached only eight other times in the past decade. Yet unlike the manic, headline-dominating rally of 2017, this surge was playing out with remarkably little fanfare. No couch conversations at Thanksgiving dinner. No frenzied cable news segments. Just steady, relentless buying from the institutions that had once dismissed crypto as a passing fad.
TL;DR
- Bitcoin traded around $16,700 on November 16, within striking distance of its all-time high near $20,000
- The rally has been driven primarily by institutional buyers — Fidelity, Grayscale, PayPal, and Paul Tudor Jones
- Retail interest remains muted compared to 2017, which analysts see as a bullish signal
- Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract is gathering momentum ahead of the Beacon Chain launch scheduled for December 1
- Bitcoin dominance is rising during the rally, suggesting capital is flowing into BTC rather than altcoins
The Silent Rally
Bloomberg data confirmed what every crypto watcher already sensed: Bitcoin was more expensive on November 16 than it had been at almost any point in its history. Yet the public fascination that characterized the 2017 bubble was nowhere to be found. Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Schwab Center for Financial Research, put it bluntly: the number of questions she receives about Bitcoin is a fraction of what she got during the previous cycle.
This lack of noise is precisely what has seasoned market observers encouraged. The 2017 rally was fueled by retail speculation, leveraged positions, and ICO hype — all of which evaporated when prices crashed 70% over the following year. The 2020 rally, by contrast, is being built on a foundation of institutional capital and structural infrastructure improvements.
PayPal, Fidelity, and the Institutional Floodgates
The catalysts behind Bitcoin’s late-2020 surge are both numerous and fundamentally different from those of the previous cycle. PayPal’s October announcement that it would allow its 346 million users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies sent an unmistakable signal: crypto was no longer the exclusive domain of tech enthusiasts and libertarians.
Fidelity Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers with over $8 trillion under management, had launched a Bitcoin fund earlier in the summer. The fund gave qualified clients direct exposure to Bitcoin through a familiar, regulated vehicle — a far cry from the unregulated exchanges that dominated the 2017 landscape.
Then there was Paul Tudor Jones, the legendary macro investor who revealed in May 2020 that he had allocated roughly 1-2% of his portfolio to Bitcoin futures. Jones compared Bitcoin to gold in the 1970s and called it the best inflation hedge available in an era of unprecedented central bank money printing.
Ethereum 2.0: The Quiet Revolution Building Alongside
While Bitcoin captured the headlines, Ethereum was undergoing its own transformation. The Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract went live in early November, allowing ETH holders to stake their tokens in preparation for the network’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. The Beacon Chain — Phase 0 of Ethereum’s ambitious multi-year upgrade — was scheduled to launch on December 1, 2020, provided the deposit contract received the required 524,288 ETH.
As of November 16, ETH was trading around $460 with a market capitalization of approximately $52.5 billion according to CoinMarketCap. The Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract was steadily accumulating stakes, though it had not yet reached its threshold. Major exchanges like Coinbase and Binance announced support for ETH staking, making it easier for everyday holders to participate in the network upgrade.
The significance of Ethereum 2.0 cannot be overstated. The upgrade promised to dramatically increase the network’s transaction throughput, reduce energy consumption by over 99%, and introduce a staking economy that would allow ETH holders to earn yield on their holdings. For the broader crypto ecosystem, it represented the next evolution of blockchain technology beyond simple store-of-value narratives.
Market Dynamics: Bitcoin Dominance Rising
One notable feature of the November 2020 rally was the increasing dominance of Bitcoin over altcoins. While BTC surged past $16,000 and headed toward $17,000, many alternative cryptocurrencies were struggling to keep pace. This pattern suggested that new capital entering the market was flowing primarily into Bitcoin rather than being distributed across the broader crypto landscape.
For market analysts, this was a familiar pattern. In previous cycles, Bitcoin-led rallies were typically followed by an “altseason” — a period where capital rotated from Bitcoin into smaller, higher-risk assets. Whether that pattern would repeat remained an open question, but the current dynamics favored Bitcoin accumulation above all else.
Why This Matters
The events of November 16, 2020 represented an inflection point in cryptocurrency history. Bitcoin was approaching its all-time high not on the back of retail speculation, but through the deliberate accumulation by the world’s largest financial institutions. Meanwhile, Ethereum was preparing for the most significant protocol upgrade in blockchain history. The convergence of institutional Bitcoin adoption and Ethereum’s technological evolution created a dual narrative that would define the crypto market for years to come. Looking back, this was the moment when cryptocurrency stopped asking for permission from the traditional financial system — and the traditional financial system started asking how to get involved.
Disclaimer: This article was written for informational purposes based on historical events. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.
“no couch conversations at Thanksgiving” is the most accurate description of this rally. my family still thinks btc is a scam at $17k
silent_pump_ that thanksgiving couch silence line is too real my uncle still calls it drug money at 17k
silent_pump_ the thanksgiving line killed me too. my uncle asked if bitcoin was that thing for buying drugs and i just nodded
my mom still asks when im selling my internet money. some things never change lol
Fidelity and Grayscale buying while retail is asleep is the most bullish signal possible. institutions always front-run the crowd
ETH2 deposit contract gathering steam alongside the BTC rally. December 1 beacon chain launch could be the catalyst for ETH to catch up
eth2 deposit contract steam plus the 17000 btc move makes december 1 look like the real catalyst
eth2_waiter_ that beacon chain launch ended up being one of the best catalysts. ETH from $450 to $4k in under a year
ETH was such a steal under $500 back then. people were too busy watching BTC to notice
Bruno M. ETH under 500 in nov 2020 was the best risk reward of the cycle. everyone was glued to BTC and ignored the ETH 2.0 deposit contract filling up
fidelity and grayscale buying at 16700 while retail stayed home is the exact opposite of 2017
BTC at 16700 with no retail FOMO was the healthiest rally pattern possible. institutions were accumulating while retail was still traumatized from the March COVID crash to 3800
Fidelity buying at 16K while my family still thought BTC was a scam. retail was traumatized from the March crash to 3800 and missed the entire institutional accumulation phase
Sebastian V. that March 2020 crash to 3800 was the ultimate shakeout. anyone who bought there and held through Thanksgiving silence made generational money
the article says no couch conversations at Thanksgiving but 3 weeks later BTC broke 20K and every relative suddenly had opinions. silence was the buy signal
grayscale was buying more btc than miners were producing in november 2020. thats not retail fomo, thats structural demand
Radek P. grayscale premium was like 15% at one point. institutional buyers were paying way over spot just to get exposure through a trust
GBTC was trading at 15 to 40 percent premium while retail had no direct access. institutions were paying way over spot because they had no other option
Radek P. 15% grayscale premium was insane. institutions were literally paying more than spot for paper BTC because they couldnt hold spot directly
grayscale was buying 2x what miners were producing daily in nov 2020. that was the most bullish chart of the entire cycle and nobody outside crypto twitter saw it
pascal_drift_ grayscale absorbing 2x miner output daily was the most bullish chart of the entire cycle. institutions were literally buying faster than btc could be mined
paypal enabling crypto purchases for 300m users in october basically set the floor for this rally. everyone focuses on grayscale but pypl was the real unlock
Grayscale buying 2x miner output every day and the premium hit 40 percent. institutions were literally paying double for paper BTC because they couldnt hold spot. craziest market structure ive ever seen
hash_depth_ the GBTC premium chart from late 2020 is the most bullish signal that ever existed. funds were paying 40 percent over NAV for something they could have bought on Coinbase for spot. institutional FOMO at its purest
PayPal enabling crypto buys for 300M users in October 2020 was the real catalyst. Grayscale gets the headlines but PYPL put a buy button in front of half of America
my thanksgiving dinner that year was just me refreshing coinmarketcap under the table. family asked if i was texting a girl. worse, a chart
my thanksgiving 2020 was me checking block height under the table too. family thought I had a girlfriend. nope just a price ticker