Omar Marquez | Light Rocket | Getty Images
Bitcoin After a lull in gains over the weekend, it spiked earlier in the week, moving even closer to all-time highs.
According to Coin Metrics, the leading cryptocurrency was last up 8% to $67,909.00. At one point, it rose to $68,577.00, the highest price since November 2021, when it last reached a record. ether It rose more than 4% to $3,633.90.
Both coins are coming off their best weeks in nearly a year — Bitcoin up about 21% and Ethereum up 16% — but the market has been on the brink of a two-day break from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The weekend rally paused as the sharp outflows were offset. With inflows into other “nascent” Bitcoin exchange traded funds.
“With the launch of these nine new ETFs, big moves tend to occur during the normal trading week rather than weekends,” said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Nexo.
“What we’re seeing today could be a repeat of early last week, when Bitcoin soared by $10,000 in a matter of days,” he added. “Thanks to the strong demand for these new spot ETFs, we are in an environment where we could see a day or two of sideways consolidation ahead of an explosive move.”
Bitcoin has lifted other crypto tokens, especially meme coins. dogecoin soared 18%, and Shiba Inu Coin soared 54%. Analysts are pointing to these as evidence that retail investors, who have not participated in much of the recent crypto rally, are starting to return to the crypto market. Last week, the meme token’s weekly trading volume surged to its highest level since late 2021, according to crypto data provider Kaiko.
Some crypto assets have ridden the Bitcoin wave. coinbase and micro strategy, increased by 11% and 23.6%, respectively. However, the short-term impact of the April halving, which will reduce mining companies’ profits, weighed on investors, allowing miners to sit on the sidelines and recoup their gains. clean spark and crypto mining Although each decreased by more than 7%, iris energy and marathon digital Each fell by nearly 5%, riot platform It fell nearly 7%.
Some analysts have suggested that while Bitcoin may continue to rise in the short term, it could fall in the coming weeks as unrealized gains approach extreme levels. According to CryptoQuant, the realized price of Bitcoin remains at only about $42,700.
Nevertheless, long-term investors are betting that increased demand for Bitcoin through new US ETFs, combined with tight supply expected after April’s halving event, will push Bitcoin prices to new all-time highs. Sure.
Crypto has also received bidding from the stock market, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hitting a new all-time high on Friday, making it the last major stock index to post a record close this year.
David Duong, Head of Institutional Research at Coinbase, said March could be a flat month for Bitcoin, but the cryptocurrency is benefiting from a productivity boom driven by AI and blockchain technology, and the future will be strong. He said he expected it to continue.
Don’t miss the next story from CNBC PRO.
