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Bitcoin price reaches $20K for the first time

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

The value of bitcoin jumped to $20,000 on Wednesday morning, CNBC reports, citing Coin Metrics market data.

The big picture: The cryptocurrency almost traded above $20k in 2017, but advocates tell CNBC that institutional support from S&P Dow Jones Indices and Cboe Global Markets have put the virtual currency on an upward track.

Flashback: The value of a single bitcoin cracked $15,000 last month after the Justice Department seized about $1 billion worth of the cryptocurrency from the dormant site Silk Road on the dark web.

Go deeper

Felix Salmon, author of Capital
Jan 7, 2021 - Economy & Business

Bitcoin vs. Tesla: Battle of the bubbles

Expand chart
Data: YCharts; Chart: Axios Visuals

The value of Tesla overtook the value of all the bitcoins in the world in early June, and has stayed ahead ever since.

The bull case for Tesla is fundamentally optimistic. It involves a real company coming to dominate the global mobility industry.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
47 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Read: Pete Buttigieg's opening statement ahead of confirmation hearing

Pete Buttigieg, President Biden's nominee to be secretary of transportation, in December. Photo: Kevin Lamarque/AFP via Getty Images

Pete Buttigieg, President Biden's nominee to lead the Transportation Department, will tell senators he plans to prioritize the health and safety of public transportation systems during the pandemic — and look to infrastructure projects to rebuild the economy — according to a copy of his prepared remarks obtained by Axios.

Driving the news: Buttigieg will testify at 10 a.m. ET before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. He is expected to face a relatively smooth confirmation process, though GOP lawmakers may press him on "green" elements of Biden's transportation proposals.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Jonathan Swan, Zachary Basu
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy
Off the Rails

Episode 8: The siege

Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photos: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. Axios takes you inside the collapse of a president with a special series.

Episode 8: The siege. An inside account of the deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 that ultimately failed to block the certification of the Electoral College. And, finally, Trump's concession.

On Jan. 6, White House deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger entered the West Wing in the mid-afternoon, shortly after his colleagues' phones had lit up with an emergency curfew alert from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

Go deeper (11 min. read)Arrow