Bitcoin reached a fresh record high, exceeding the $73,000 threshold, as investors largely disregarded slightly elevated U.S. inflation figures, believing they would not thwart anticipated interest rate reductions by mid-year, on Wednesday.
Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin surged to an intraday high of $73,127, maintaining a 0.9% increase to $72,920 as of 12:57 pm IST.
Recent overnight data revealed that consumer prices in the United States experienced a robust 0.36% increase in February, surpassing the anticipated 0.3% upturn. This growth was primarily driven by elevated expenses for fuel and shelter. However, on an annual basis, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) demonstrated a marginal deceleration, settling at 3.8%.
Also read: Bitcoin reaches all-time high of $72,000, should you invest? Here’s what experts say
“Bitcoin reaching an all-time high was expected by the crypto industry given that the last year has had tremendous macroeconomic developments. ETFs and the increased accessibility of Bitcoin have also played a key role in the sustained rise of Bitcoin’s price. Bitcoin ETFs have been one of the most successful ETFs to date with positive inflows since the day of launch. 2024 is also going to be an exciting year for Crypto with Bitcoin halving less than 40 days away. Halving effectively reduces the Block reward of the Bitcoin blockchain by half creating supply pressure. We are highly positive about the positive growth of Bitcoin and the crypto market as a whole this year,” said Raj Karkara, COO, ZebPay.
Another key driving factor behind sudden surge in bitcoin prices is that the the UK will allow some bitcoin-linked securities to be listed on the stock market.
“This is an important announcement and recognition of crypto-assets as an asset class in the UK. Seemingly following suit from the ETF approvals in the US, the UK regulator has softened its position and will allow for cryptoasset-backed Exchange Traded Notes (eETNs) to be listed by Recognised Investment Exchanges and offered to professional investors. This cautious approach reflects a deep-seated concern for the potential harms and volatility associated with crypto investments, underscoring the message that while the UK is open to innovation, it will not compromise on consumer protection,” said Nathan Catania, Partner at XReg Consulting.
Also read: Bitcoin market cap surpasses Silver to take eighth spot in global asset rankings
Following Bitcoin’s upward movement, several other cryptocurrencies also experienced significant surges in Wednesday’s trading session. Avalanche and Toncoin notably saw increases of 13.5% and 21.2%, respectively. Ethereum, BNB, Cardano, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Polkadot, and Chainlink also witnessed substantial gains.
The total volume of the cryptocurrency market over the past 24 hours stands at $158.71 billion, reflecting a slight decrease of 2.97%. Within the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, the total volume currently amounts to $15.44 billion, constituting 9.73% of the total crypto market volume over the same period. Additionally, the volume of all stablecoins collectively reaches $146 billion, accounting for 91.9% of the total crypto market volume within the last 24 hours, according to data available on CoinMarketCap.
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