Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, rose 3.79% in the 24 hours leading up to 8:20 am UTC to trade at $58,504, for the first time in two years and three months.
Bitcoin is up over 13.5% on the weekly chart and over 38% on the monthly chart, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Bitcoin’s price rally comes two days after the announcement that Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy had acquired an additional 3,000 BTC for a total of $155 million at an average price of $51,813 between Feb. 15 and 25. With a total of 193,000 BTC acquired for $6.09 billion at an average price of $31,544, MicroStrategy is the world’s largest Bitcoin holder among publicly traded companies.
According to Mikkel Morch, founder of the digital asset investment fund ARK36, MicroStrategy’s recent purchase is the institutional endorsement mainly fueling this rally. Morch wrote in a research note shared with Cointelegraph:
“This rally is not just numbers on a chart; it’s a declaration of the confidence among institutional investors in the transformative potential of cryptocurrencies… Moreover, the green light for Bitcoin-owning ETFs in the United States has injected a fresh wave of optimism, propelling trading volumes and spotlighting crypto-linked firms amidst a broader market fraught with apprehension.”
The total crypto market capitalization increased by 2.85% in the past 24 hours to $2.19 trillion. The industry recaptured the $2-trillion market capitalization on Feb. 27, as Bitcoin breached $57,000, bolstered by a combination of Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows and improving crypto investor sentiment.
According to Morch, we could see a new all-time high for both Bitcoin and Ether in the next couple of weeks, driven by the anticipation of the upcoming Bitcoin halving and the potential acceptance of a United States spot Ether ETF. He wrote:
“The anticipation swirling around the approval of spot Ether ETFs further underscores the maturation of the cryptocurrency market. It recognition of Ethereum’s role not just as a digital currency, but as an infrastructure backbone for a future where finance and technology merge more seamlessly.”
The nine spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded combined trading volumes of over $2 billion for the second consecutive day on Feb. 28.
