Bitcoin
and other cryptocurrencies marched higher Monday as the crypto rally continued, with record highs in sight as digital assets benefit from inflows into recently approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
The price of Bitcoin has surged nearly 7% over the past 24 hours to $67,500, with the largest crypto closing in on its record peak above $69,000 reached in November 2021. Bitcoin has climbed steadily since last summer, but gains have been supercharged in recent weeks amid jubilant sentiment across wider markets—with the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq
stock indexes at record levels—and the impact of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
“Bitcoin … looks set to threaten record highs above $69,000 shortly,” said Aditya Das, an analyst at blockchain research group Brave New Coin. “On several occasions last week the price jumped by multiple percentage points in minutes … creating buzz across the crypto trading ecosystem.”
Bitcoin now has gained more than 50% since the start of the year amid anticipation and approval in mid-January of the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have ushered in a fresh wave of investor interest. With many of these funds managed by mainstream financial firms like
BlackRock
—and easily purchased by investors—inflows into the funds have sent prices skyward because the ETFs hold the token itself.
Bitcoin ETFs took in a net $1.77 billion between Feb. 26 and Feb. 28 amid explosive market moves last week, according to research from crypto financial services firm Galaxy, with Feb. 28 marking the biggest day ever for Bitcoin ETF inflows.
“Bitcoin approaching record highs is the culmination of increasing confidence in the asset among U.S. based investors, RIA platforms and institutions,” said Galaxy analyst Gabe Parker. “The increased access to the spot BTC ETFs for wealth managers and financial advisors in the U.S. will inevitably contribute to the acceleration of net inflows.”
Beyond Bitcoin,
Ether
—the second-largest crypto—rose 2.6% to above $3,580. Smaller tokens or altcoins also were higher, with
Cardano
climbing 7.7% and
Polygon
popping 4.8%. Memecoins were flying, with
Dogecoin
up 28% and
Shiba Inu
jumping 53%—signs that bullish sentiment was reaching fever pitch as traders piled into tokens based initially on internet jokes.
Write to Jack Denton at jack.denton@barrons.com
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