Bitcoin Hits $50k For The First Time Since 2014

(CTN News) – A regulatory approval for US exchange-traded funds designed to track Bitcoin’s price helped the world’s largest cryptocurrency break the $50,000 resistance level for the first time in over two years.

On Monday, it hit its highest since Dec. 27, 2021, with a rise of 16.3% this year. By 12:56 EST (1756 GMT), bitcoin was trading at $49,899, up 4.96% on the day.

Crypto lending platform Nexo’s Antoni Trenchev said, “$50,000 is an important milestone for bitcoin, given that spot ETFs were launched last month but failed to spur a move above this psychological level.”

Coinbase and Riot Platforms both rose 4.9% on Monday, while Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms both rose 10.8% and 11.9%. Software firm MicroStrategy rose 10.2% on Monday.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was up 4.12% at $2,607.57.

As traders waited for clues about the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, global stock indexes edged higher on Monday. May is predicted to be a possible month for rate cuts this year by analysts and financial markets.

PERFORMANCE OF ETFS

A research note by fintech investment firm Fineqia International explains bitcoin’s recent price appreciation as a result of increased inflows into BTC spot ETFs.

It was a watershed moment for the world’s largest cryptocurrency and the broader crypto industry, which had been striving for more than a decade to create a product like this.

In particular, Greco noted that outflows from Grayscale Investment’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust have slowed since it was converted from a trust to an exchange-traded fund (ETF) in January.

In contrast, BTC Spot ETFs experienced a total net inflow of about $1.2 billion during the same period, the highest inflow since they were launched, he said.

Bernstein analysts predict flows into the new ETFs will reach $10 billion in 2024, while Standard Chartered analysts predict $50 billion to $100 billion for this year alone. Over a five-year period, other analysts predict $55 billion in inflows.

Also pending at the US SEC are seven ETF applications tied to the spot price of ether. In May, the SEC is expected to make a final decision on several of these proposals.

Analysts predict that investors will be eagerly awaiting the next halving of bitcoin in April. There are 21 million bitcoins in supply, of which 19 million have already been created. This process is meant to slow down bitcoin’s release. In the past three years, Bitcoin has rallied after halvings.

As the smallest, youngest, and most retail-dominated asset class, bitcoin is halved for the fourth time, the Fed cuts interest rates and an ETF is approved for Ethereum.

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