The Bitcoin chase is on

Kelly Evans's afternoon commentary & top market stories

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE THU, DEC 17, 2020 YOUR AFTERNOON NEWS UPDATE AND MARKET ACTION FROM CNBC AS OF THU, DEC 17, 2020 • 11:12 ET DJIA 30259.65 +0.35% +105.11 S&P 500 3716.91 +0.43% +15.74 NASDAQ 12723.82 +0.52% +65.63   EDITOR'S NOTE So many things are different about the breakout in Bitcoin this time around.    You know what I'm not seeing? Any articles about its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Anyone tweeting about the latest Bitcoin "breakeven" mining costs. I'm not even seeing any big think pieces or endless PR pitches about how the blockchain will change everything. No one's talking about blockchain, period!   All the smart people used to chuckle at Bitcoin but say, man, but this blockchain thing is the real story. Actually, it wasn't. The tell was when Blythe Masters stepped down as CEO of Digital Asset at the end of 2018. (Masters is the finance rockstar credited with inventing the credit-default swap.) "Masters was the public face of the 'blockchain, not Bitcoin' philosophy," Bloomberg wrote at the time. As of last year, she was working with Motive Partners, an investment firm that "has nothing to do with blockchain," per the Financial Times.    None of that matters now. The story is simply "everyone's buying Bitcoin, so you might as well buy some too." We talked yesterday about the huge pool of institutional capital that's starting to flood into the cryptocurrency. Bill Miller--who's having another huge year--emailed a few additional points about just how much demand could outstrip supply. There are an estimated 47 million millionaires globally, he notes, "so if each millionaire only wanted to own one Bitcoin, they could not," given Bitcoin's fixed cap of 21 million coins.    Also, Miller adds, it's thought that 95% of the current supply is owned by retail aficionados who have low turnover, leaving a very small slice of the pie available for the growing hordes who want to own some. Add it all up and it's no wonder that Bitcoin not only burst through $20,000 yesterday, but has surged above $23,000 today. Scott Minerd of Guggenheim is now saying it could hit $400,000. Sure, why not?    I also think traders who do get their hands on it want to goose this thing to the moon right now in order to show some impressive year-end "alpha." Hence today's subject line; it's the same one  from last Thursday, except that time it was about the IPO chase into DoorDash and Airbnb. The chase is on for everything right now. The Momentum ETF hit a new all-time high yesterday, Stifel notes. This headline sums it all up: "J.P. Morgan creates a 'YOLO' trade to bet on Ark ETFs." Ark being the Cathie Wood firm that is all-in on Tesla, speaking of momentum. Now you can own structured products leveraged on top of that!    So what happens when we turn the calendar to 2021? Maybe a healthy reset, a blow-off top. The vaccine brings back normalcy, the 10-year goes above 1%, the dollar maybe even strengthens, the high-fliers all come down to earth. Or since everyone seems to be expecting this, maybe not.    Maybe Satoshi reveals himself, says "to heck with this whole fixed 21-million supply thing," and Bitcoin implodes in spectacular fashion. Because that's about the only thing I could see collapsing its enthusiasm bubble right now.    See you at 1 p.m!   Kelly Kelly Evans Twitter: @KellyCNBC Instagram: @realkellyevans KEY STORIES  SEC charges Robinhood with misleading customers about how it makes money Robinhood agreed to pay a $65 million civil penalty, without admitting or denying SEC's findings. Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Accenture, General Mills, Rite Aid, Roku & more The stocks making the biggest moves in premarket trading include Accenture, General Mills, Rite Aid, Roku, and more. Bitcoin hits new all-time high above $23,000, extending its wild 2020 rally Bitcoin's price is now up more than 200% since the start of the year. Weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rise, hit highest level since early September Jobless claims unexpectedly rose as lawmakers struggle to push through additional coronavirus stimulus measures. France's Macron tests positive for Covid, prompting other top EU officials to isolate The news of Macron's positive diagnosis has prompted other government officials to go into quarantine. You can't sue Pfizer or Moderna if you have severe Covid vaccine side effects. The government likely won't compensate you for damages either Companies like Pfizer and Moderna have total immunity from legal liability under the PREP Act if something unintentionally goes wrong with their Covid vaccines. Russia's Putin says he hasn't had Covid vaccine yet because he's too old At his annual December press conference, Putin encouraged Russians to take the "Sputnik V" vaccine and said he would receive it as soon as he was able to. Congress scrambles to finalize Covid relief, avoid shutdown as deadline draws near Congress is trying to finalize a coronavirus relief plan and needs to pass a funding bill before Saturday to prevent a government shutdown. EU approves Google's $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, subject to conditions Google's $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit has been conditionally approved by the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU. U.S. energy secretary sees Middle East oil and gas security in pipelines, not tankers Outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette visited Abu Dhabi to discuss regional energy security with counterparts from the UAE, Bahrain and Israel.     IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Why Massachusetts regulators are accusing Robinhood of 'gamification' Amazon working to make its telehealth business available to other employers: Reports Why this health-care strategist says the sector will rally into 2021   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS