Bitcoin rose to the coveted $60,000 for the first time in more than two years, amid growing optimism that demand for the token is expanding beyond committed digital asset enthusiasts.
At 1325 GMT, bitcoin was trading at around $60,301, closing off its all-time high of $68,991 — which was hit in November 2021.
The largest cryptocurrency has already jumped more than 40 percent this year, fueled in part by the successful launch of US exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding the coins, which have attracted more than $6 billion since they began trading on 11- an of January
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The instruments are comparable to stocks or investment funds, as far as accessibility to everyday investors.
The expected approval of the new investment product has contributed in recent months to a rise in its price, which has largely fallen by the end of 2022 after the bankruptcy of several crypto giants.
An upcoming reduction in Bitcoin’s supply growth, known as the halving, adds to the optimistic sentiment. That helped extend a prolonged rally that also whetted speculative appetite for smaller tokens ranging from Ether to Dogecoin.
Bitcoin outperformed traditional assets like stocks and gold in 2024.
The virtual unit was also partly boosted by hopes that the US Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates this year as inflation eases.
The nine new spot ETFs have more than 300,000 Bitcoin, or seven times the amount of new coins mined since January 11th.
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After the halving, expected at the end of April, the number of new coins mined daily will decrease to 450 from 900 currently.
The value of all bitcoin in circulation surpassed $2 trillion this month for the first time in two years, according to crypto platform CoinGecko.
Crypto investor and software firm MicroStrategy revealed earlier this week that it recently bought about 3,000 bitcoins for $155 million, while social media platform Reddit also said in a regulatory filing that it bought small amounts of bitcoin and ether.
Bitcoin is created — or “mined” — as a reward when powerful computers solve complex problems to validate transactions made on the blockchain.
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Published: 28 Feb 2024, 20:47 IST