Bitcoin soared to a two-year high on Monday, surpassing $65,000, propelled by a surge of investments that brought it close to its previous record levels. The cryptocurrency hit a session high of $65,537 during early European trading after already having recorded a new two-year high in Asian markets.
According to Coin Metrics, Bitcoin was last up by 3.7 percent at $65,127.00. Bitcoin had hit a record high of $68,999.99 in November 2021. The largest cryptocurrency by market value has seen a 50 percent surge in value this year, with the majority of the rise coming in the last few weeks, marked by a surge in inflows into U.S.-listed Bitcoin funds.
Bitcoin Rally Continues
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum saw their most impressive week in almost a year, with Bitcoin gaining about 21 percent and Ether jumping by 16 percent. However, their momentum paused over the weekend as the market absorbed two days of substantial outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF.
This was partially counteracted by inflows into other recently established Bitcoin ETFs.
The recent surge follows the approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the SEC in the United States in early January.
The approval of the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs paved the way for larger investors and renewed enthusiasm and momentum, reminiscent of the period leading up to the cryptocurrency's record levels in 2021.
Net flows into the 10 largest U.S. spot bitcoin funds totaled $2.17 billion in the week ending March 1, with over half of that sum directed toward BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust, as per data from LSEG.
Smaller rival Ether has joined the upward trend amid speculation that it might also see an influx of investments through ETFs.
Ether has jumped 50 percent year-to-date, and as of Monday, it was trading at two-year highs, with a 2.6 percent gain on the day, reaching $3,518.
What's In Store?
Investors have been particularly keen on witnessing Bitcoin nearing its all-time high. At $65,000, it is approximately 6 percent below its November 2021 intraday record of $68,982.20.
Some analysts have predicted that while it might continue to climb in the short term, Bitcoin could enter a cooling-off period in the next few weeks as unrealized profit margins approach extreme levels. The realized price of Bitcoin is currently around $42,700, according to CryptoQuant.
Despite short-term considerations, long-term investors remain optimistic. They believe that the combination of rising demand for Bitcoin through the new U.S. ETFs and an anticipated reduction in supply after the April halving event will propel the price of Bitcoin to a new all-time high.
Cryptocurrencies have also received a modest boost from the stock market, particularly as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit an all-time high on Friday, becoming the final major stock index to register a record close this year.
