Bitcoin Surpasses $65,000 Up 18.5% Since the Beginning of February

Bitcoin reached $60,000 on Wednesday for the first time in more than two years, thanks to a rush of capital into new US bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which fueled a 42% price surge in February, the biggest month since December 2020.

Bitcoin was last up 6% at $60,131, its best since November 2021, when it reached a record $68,789. Bitcoin was also on track for its greatest week-on-week increase in a year, up 18.5% since February 21.

Bitcoin’s value has more than tripled since the beginning of last year, rebounding from a 64% drop in 2022, in a stunning recovery after a series of crypto-industry scandals and bankruptcy that raised doubts about the durability of digital assets.

Traders have poured into bitcoin in anticipation of a “halving” event in April, which is intended to slow the cryptocurrency’s release. Furthermore, the potential of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this year has fueled investor demand for higher-yielding or more volatile assets.

“Bitcoin is being driven by the support of consistent inflows into the new spot ETFs, the outlook for April’s halving event, and June’s (expected) Fed interest-rate cuts,” said Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at the retail investment platform eToro.

The total value of bitcoin in circulation surpassed $2 trillion this month for the first time in two years, according to cryptocurrency platform CoinGecko, while the token’s price has doubled in only four months.

The larger bitcoin ETFs have witnessed a significant increase in interest this week. The three most popular, run by Grayscale, Fidelity, and BlackRock, have seen trading volumes increase.

According to LSEG data, around 110 million shares of the market’s three most valued companies — Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia — changed hands on Monday and Tuesday, accounting for approximately 51% of the 215 million shares moved.

Three weeks ago, the figure was closer to 15%.

“Essentially, we’re seeing the ETF effect ahead of schedule,” said Enigma Securities’ head of research, Joseph Edwards. “Inflows into them stepped up quickly last week and have been sustained, and we think it’s reflective of advisers getting out there very quickly to start selling the ETFs to clients.”

LSEG data reveal that flows into the ten largest spot bitcoin ETFs totaled $420 million on Tuesday alone, the greatest in over two weeks.

“If $60,000 doesn’t whet your appetite, consider that 70% of bitcoin supply has remained unmoved for a year, and the little that remains is being hoovered up by the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity, just as miners’ rewards are about to be halved.” “The stars are aligning for bitcoin,” said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Nexo.

MicroStrategy, a crypto investor and software firm, announced earlier this week that it had recently purchased approximately 3,000 bitcoins for $155 million, while Reddit, a social media site, claimed in a regulatory filing that it had purchased minor sums of bitcoin and ether.

Ether, which powers the Ethereum blockchain network, increased 3.2% to $3,353, after reaching a two-year high earlier in the day. The price increased by 47% in February, the largest monthly gain since a 70% spike in July 2022.

Some investors hope that US regulators would allow proposals for ETFs based on spot ether, the second-largest digital asset.

According to Edwards of Enigma Securities, the upward trend has been relatively consistent.

“There certainly isn’t a manic feeling to who’s buying and why — ether gaining against the field also speaks to a more measured environment — but there’s at least a little FOMO (fear of missing out) going on right now,” the analyst added.

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