The price of Bitcoin dipped early Friday as the cryptocurrency’s rally took a pause with its all-time high still in sight.
Bitcoin
was trading at $62,198, falling 0.9% over the past 24 hours. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has climbed for six consecutive days through Thursday, jumping 21.5% during that period and marking its best six-day stretch since March 2023, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Other digital assets traded lower. The second-largest crypto,
Ether,
fell 0.8% to $3,430,
Cardano
was down 2%,
Dogecoin
slipped 3.5%, and
Shiba Inu
declined 3.4%.
Solana
was up 3.8%.
Bitcoin prices have been helped by the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) at the beginning of the year, which has increased institutional investor interest in the cryptocurrency.
More recently, retail investors have joined the party, driving the rally in the last few days.
Coinbase Global
reported problems with its systems due to the sheer surge in traffic on the exchange Wednesday.
While the price was little changed Friday, Bitcoin’s all-time high of around $69,000 could still be tested in the coming weeks. The so-called halving event, which cuts the rate at which tokens are issued, is typically a catalyst for the price. That may be behind some of the recent moves, but there could still be more to come.
“I suspect there could be further to run in Bitcoin’s current ascent, as its success tends to breed success in the short term. Breaching $60,000 will generate plenty of column inches and public attention, likely luring in new investors and creating an upward swirling vortex,” said AJ Bell analyst Laith Khalaf.
However, he warned that buying on the back of a price spike was “rarely a good idea,” and noted that Bitcoin fell to around $17,000 after climbing above $60,000 in 2021.
Write to Callum Keown at callum.keown@barrons.com
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