The last time that bitcoin was near $20,000 was in December of 2017. Bitcoin started that year under $1,000 and peaked at the end of the year above $20,000.

2017 vs 2021

This time, there are some significant differences. The advance has been much smoother, while the last advance was nearly parabolic. Parabolic advances tend not to be sustainable and end in tears. Currently, bitcoin has been trading under its previous highs for weeks which increases confidence that a breakout is likely with follow-through.

Further, during the previous advance, bitcoin was much less known and understood asset. Most of the people in the market were tech-savvy people. There were hurdles to buying it and it had associations with unsavory elements. This time, bitcoin is much more mainstream.

There are easy ways to buy it like with ETFs or through apps from Paypal (PYPL  ) or Square (SQ  ). Even institutions are starting to include it in their asset allocation strategy. Further, the crypto ecosystem is growing, so there are uses for bitcoin beyond speculation.

For investors, interested in gaining exposure to bitcoin, here are some interesting stocks that will also benefit if bitcoin makes new highs:

Paypal

Paypal recently entered the crypto-world by letting users buy and sell various cryptocurrencies. It's already been a huge hit as increased volumes are already apparent. It's leading to people joining the platform and adding funds to their account. For Paypal, this is the next step in its evolution to becoming a "digital wallet" where people will be able to do all their financial activities through the platform.

Silvergate Capital (SI  )

Until a year ago, crypto was avoided by major financial institutions which put a limit on companies' growth if they couldn't access financial services. Silvergate Capital stepped into that void and as a result, it's the financial institution behind many crypto exchanges. As the price and trading volume of bitcoin increases, Silvergate will benefit.

Riot Blockchain (RIOT  )

Paypal and Silvergate Capital are diversified businesses with crypto exposure. In contrast, Riot Blockchain is a pure-play crypto company. The stock is up more than 100% over the past month but would likely keep moving higher if bitcoin manages to break out to new highs.

Riot has made strategic investments in many crypto companies and currencies. In a sense, it's trying to be a "crypto conglomerate". It also has significant crypto-mining operations. It also seeks to apply blockchain solutions to other industries.