Bitcoin
Bitcoin is back above $68,000. Are we heading for a new peak?
One month after ‘reduce by half‘ and in the middle Bitcoin Pizza Day This week, the leading cryptocurrency appears to be in a celebratory mood.
Why Bitcoin and Ether Are Soaring
Bitcoin was trading around $68,000 on Monday, up 3.4% in the last 24 hours and more than 9% in the past week. Bitcoin’s all-time high is $73,835, reached on March 14, 2024.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, followed suit, hovering around $3,100 for a 3% gain. Solana, also known as the ‘ethereum killer’, jumped more than 6% on Monday to $180, meaning it has now jumped more than 21% in a week. Top memecoins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu saw modest jumps of more than 2% each.
Overall, the global cryptocurrency market rose nearly 3% on Monday to stand at $2.47 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
The rise in the crypto market is mainly driven by macroeconomic factors, such as ease in the inflation rate.
About that, gold hit a record on Mondaycausing analysts to speculate about how it reached the new peak and whether Bitcoin will surpass its all-time high mark.
Possibly, the answer lies in metals and cryptocurrency mining, said Neil Roarty, an analyst at the investment platform Stock analysis.
“The cost of extracting gold from the ground has been steadily rising due to several factors, including the disruption of supply chains and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said. “Meanwhile, the recent Bitcoin halving event reduced the rewards Bitcoin miners receive by 50% in April.
“With political uncertainty and the promise of falling interest rates likely to support demand for both categories, the rising cost of supply should give bulls in both camps reason to be optimistic.”
Furthermore, spot Bitcoin ETFs have been performing well in recent days. According to industry tracker Far sideInvestors have been putting money into several spot Bitcoin ETFs since May 15. Grayscale’s GBTC, which was in the red for monthsit also received funds from investors.
Since May 1, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, or IBIT, has seen an inflow of $15 billion, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC with $8.4 billion, ARK 21Shares’ Bitcoin ETF ARK with $2.4 billion and Bitwise’s BITB with US$1.8 billion, for Far side.