Bitcoin surged past the $61,000 mark on Wednesday, marking its highest value in over two years. This significant spike came on the heels of substantial investments in new US spot bitcoin exchange-traded products, propelling a remarkable 43 percent price increase throughout February. This surge represents the most substantial monthly gain since December 2020.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $60,131, marking its highest value since November 2021, when it almost reached $70,000. Furthermore, Bitcoin appeared set for its most significant weekly gain in a year, with an increase of 18.5 percent since February 21st.
The anticipation of Bitcoin’s upcoming halving event, designed to reduce the rate of cryptocurrency release, has attracted considerable attention from traders. Additionally, the expectation of potential rate cuts by the Federal Reserve throughout the year has intensified investor interest in assets offering higher yields or greater volatility.
There has been a notable surge in interest in larger Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this week. Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro, attributed Bitcoin’s momentum to consistent inflows into new spot ETFs, as well as optimism surrounding the forthcoming halving event in April and anticipated Fed interest rate adjustments in June.
The total value of all circulating bitcoins exceeded $2 trillion this month for the first time in two years, according to CoinGecko. Simultaneously, the price of Bitcoin itself has doubled in just four months. Trading volumes for the three most popular ETFs, managed by Grayscale, Fidelity, and BlackRock, have experienced a substantial surge. In fact, on Monday and Tuesday alone, approximately 110 million shares were traded among the top three ETFs, accounting for about 51 percent of the total shares traded in the market’s most valuable companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, according to data from LSEG. This figure represents a significant increase from three weeks prior, when the percentage was closer to 15 percent.
Meanwhile, Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency supporting the Ethereum blockchain network, experienced a 3.2 percent increase, reaching $3,353. Earlier in the day, it had hit another two-year high. Throughout February, Ether has seen a notable 47 percent increase, marking its most significant monthly gain since a 70 percent rally in July 2022.
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