The price of bitcoin surged above the $54,000 mark on Monday following a week of subdued trading. The flagship cryptocurrency saw a 5% increase, reaching $54,460.00, as reported by Coin Metrics.
At its peak during the session, bitcoin reached $54,965.26, marking its highest level since December 2021.
“Today is settlement day for bitcoin futures, which is contributing to the price jump we’re seeing,” said Ryan Rasmussen, analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. “We’re approaching the window where we typically see traders positioning themselves ahead of the bitcoin halving, which will happen in the second half of April. I suspect this is the day people start rolling into bullish positions pre-halving.”
Most of the crypto market experienced a boost propelled by bitcoin. Ether saw an increase of over 2%, reaching $3,173.87. Solana surged by more than 5%, while Cardano’s ADA token rose approximately 4%. Polygon’s MATIC token witnessed an 8% increase.
In tandem with this upward movement, crypto-related equities also surged. Coinbase and Microstrategy saw a significant leap of 16%, while Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, the leading Bitcoin miners, soared by 15% and 20%, respectively.
Bitcoin had remained relatively stable throughout the week preceding Monday’s breakout, putting it on track for a notable 27% monthly gain.
Owen Lau, analyst at Oppenheimer, said,
“Bitcoin has been hovering around $52,000 for the past two weeks and looking for an opportunity to break out.”
He cited positive idiosyncratic developments in crypto regulation and increasing retail participation.
In a recent note, JPMorgan’s Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou highlighted the resurgence of retail interest in crypto, which paused in January but rebounded notably in February, playing a significant role in driving the upward price movement.
He identified three key catalysts contributing to this renewed retail interest: the bitcoin halving and Ethereum’s forthcoming tech upgrade—both of which JPMorgan perceives as already factored into the market—and the potential approval of spot ether ETFs.
