-
Bitcoin
topped
$68,000
on
Monday,
nearing
its
November
2021
record
around
$69,000. -
It
is
rapidly
approaching
silver’s
nearly
$1.4
trillion
market
capitalization. -
Ether
topped
$3,600
for
the
first
time
since
January
2022
amid
strong
institutional
demand. -
BlackRock’s
bitcoin
ETF
saw
another
busy
trading
day,
recording
over
$2
billion
in
volume
before
market
close.
Bitcoin
(BTC)
continued
to
knock
off
$1,000
milestones,
surging
past
$67,000
and
nearing
not
just
its
own
record
high
of
$69,000,
but
the
nearly
$1.4
trillion
market
capitalization
of
silver.
The
largest
and
oldest
crypto
asset
broke
out
from
its
week-long
sideways
consolidation
capped
below
the
$64,000
level,
hitting
$68,800
during
early
Asian
trading
hours
on
Tuesday.
It
was
recently
up
8.5%
over
the
past
24
hours,
roughly
in
line
with
the
broad-market
CoinDesk
20
Index’s
(CD20)
8%
advance.
With
this
year’s
meteoric
rise,
BTC
is
rapidly
becoming
one
of
the
largest
global
assets,
and
at
current
levels
has
surpassed
the
$1.3
trillion
market
capitalization
threshold.
It
is
now
closing
in
on
silver’s
market
cap
of
$1.4
trillion,
according
to
data
compiled
by
CompaniesMarketCap
after
earlier
in
this
bull
run
toppling
that
of
Facebook
parent
company
Meta
Platforms
(META).
Monday’s
price
action
also
squeezed
bitcoin
shorts
–
trading
positions
betting
on
lower
prices
–
liquidating
some
$120
million
of
leveraged
bets
during
the
day,
predominantly
shorts,
CoinGlass
data
shows.
Ether
(ETH),
the
second
largest
crypto
by
market
cap,
rose
above
$3,600
on
Monday
for
the
first
time
since
2022,
but
underperformed
BTC
and
the
CD20
with
just
a
4.6%
gain.
Meme
coins
are
on
a
tear,
with
dog-themed
cryptocurrencies
dogecoin
(DOGE)
and
shiba
inu
(SHIB)
being
the
best-performing
tokens
in
the
CD20,
advancing
30%
and
100%
over
the
past
24
hours,
respectively.
Bitcoin
ETF
frenzy
continues
The
price
rally
also
brought
another
day
of
strong
trading
for
U.S.-listed
spot
bitcoin
ETFs.
BlackRock’s
iShares
Bitcoin
Trust
(IBIT)
surpassed
$2.1
billion
in
trading
volume
with
still
some
time
before
the
session
close,
already
recording
its
third-best
day
after
last
Wednesday
and
Thursday,
Barchart
data
shows.
IBIT
was
the
seventh
most-traded
ETF
during
the
day,
toppling
the
first
and
largest
U.S.-listed
gold
ETF
–
the
SPDR
Gold
Shares
(GLD)
–
in
volume
despite
being
fifth
of
its
size
by
assets
under
management
(AUM).
Last
week,
bitcoin-focused
exchange-traded
products
as
a
group
attracted
“massive
inflows”
of
$1.73
billion,
their
second
largest
week
on
record,
asset
manager
CoinShares
reported
Monday.
ETH
focused
funds
were
also
in
demand,
recording
$85
million
in
net
inflows,
the
report
added.
Bitcoin
all-time
high
this
week?
Markus
Thielen,
founder
of
10xResearch,
forecasted
in
a
Monday
market
report
that
bitcoin’s
price
action
will
“astonish”
this
week,
suspecting
new
all-time
highs
this
week
as
demand
expanded
to
outside
of
the
U.S.
and
ETF
inflows
will
continue
to
be
strong.
Bitcoin
is
also
outperforming
the
tech-heavy
Nasdaq
100
Index
(NDX),
Caleb
Franzen,
founder
of
Cubic
Analytics,
noted
in
a
Sunday
report.
He
called
bitcoin’s
breakout
versus
NDX
above
a
key
level
connecting
the
first
quarter
2021
and
last
quarter
2021
highs
“extremely
encouraging.”
“Bitcoin
is
about
to
enter
price
discovery
(again)
and
people
are
somehow
bearish?
Couldn’t
be
me,”
he
said
in
an
X
post
Monday.
Crypto
analytics
firm
Swissblock’s
Monday
market
update
highlighted
bitcoin’s
strong
momentum
and
the
influx
of
new
buyers
entering
the
market.
The
report
said
that
the
current
crypto
rally
is
driven
by
large
investors’
demand
for
BTC
and
ETH
amid
weakling
U.S.
regional
banks,
and
rising
appetite
for
meme
coins
buoyed
by
FOMO
–
fear
of
missing
out
–
sentiment.
Swissblock
also
set
that
a
$70,000
bitcoin
price
is
a
“plausible
target”
in
the
short-term,
toppling
its
all-time
record
price
from
Nov.
2021.
