Who is buying the bitcoin? That we don't know for sure, but Grayscale's number of bitcoin in custody has risen by a lot, so by this, we could make an assumption that the institutional investors might be buying in. That, or the current bitcoin holders are continuing to buy in, hence the price rise without that much hype(like in 2017) with retail investors.

The Google Trends interest is relatively low for the keyword “Bitcoin” while on-chain data shows smart money is accumulating BTC. Bitcoin (BTC) is continuing to show strong momentum even after a major rally. In 2017, when the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high at $20,000, the retail demand was at its peak. Google Trends data soared, mainstream media coverage noticeably increased, and spot exchange volumes exploded across major markets, especially in South Korea and Japan. This time, the Google Trends interest is relatively low for the keyword “Bitcoin” while on-chain data shows smart money is accumulating BTC, which means possibly High-net-worth investors are buying Bitcoin


Bitcoin mean transfer volume. Source: Glassnode

Another Glassnode metrics paints a similar trend. The number of Bitcoin addresses holding more than 100 BTC hit a seven-month high at 16,271. And, Whales consistently buying Bitcoin over the past few months is optimistic in itself. But, Woo emphasized that the number of new whales has also increased.


The number of addresses holding over 100 BTC. Source: Glassnode

Google Trends data shows relatively low retail interest

Bitcoin search volume on Google. Source: Google Trends

Nevertheless, while the search volume for Bitcoin remains low, there is a particularly high interest coming from states like Hawaii, California, Nevada and Washington. But despite the high interests in these areas, it is still researched and known that whales are responsible for the recent increase in bitcoin price.

The fact that larger hands are accumulating BTC instead of retail investors also explains the somewhat suppressed mainstream interest in Bitcoin. Various metrics, including Google Trends, have shown lackluster mainstream demand for BTC despite its parabolic rally in recent months

Institutional "FOMO" makes the current BTC rally stronger than previous cycles
Whalemap analysts described the recent spike in demand for Bitcoin from whales as “institutional FOMO.” FOMO, short for "fear of missing out," refers to a trend wherein investors increasingly buy into an asset fearing it will continuously surge. Referring to a chart showing whale clusters and inflows into whale wallets, the analysts said: “These are the levels and this is what institutional fomo looks like.”



Whale clusters emerge when whale addresses — addresses that hold over 10,000 BTC — buy Bitcoin and do not move it for prolonged periods of time. This shows that whales plan to hold their most recent BTC purchases in their personal wallets.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-whale-clusters-show-institutional-fomo-is-behind-the-btc-rally
https://cointelegraph.com/news/silicon-valley-and-smart-money-are-behind-this-bitcoin-rally-data-suggests

Many users and even non-bitcoiners are also curious to know why Btc price is moving up and set to cross the ath of 20k usd, thing is I just hope it does not make them start investing cause of FOMO. People tend to forget Bitcoin has had a very good year, with all indication that it will prolly break the ath soon.

Starting from the pandemic that didn't quite affect btc, while traditional institutions plunged, to the btc halving and the numerous big news of companies investing in Bitcoin and others making it their reserve asset, this year was good for btc adoption and now the price is moving in tune with the kind of year it was for btc, which is a good one.

5. Bitcoin supply got reduced every four years and 2020 is another fourth year so scarcity is growing

The answer:  People are buying it.