NEW YORK (Agencies): Bitcoin, the world’s leading cryptocurrency, broke over the $50,000 mark on Monday, marking its highest price since 2021. The surge comes amid investor excitement over inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the upcoming supply halving.
The price of Bitcoin has recovered since tumbling below $40,000 following the opening of spot ETFs in early January. Now valued at nearly $1 trillion, Bitcoin has re-entered the top ten of the world’s most valuable assets by market capitalization, surpassing giants such as Tesla and Visa.
This recent price surge follows the landmark approval of the first-ever spot Bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 11. ETFs have allowed more retail investors to hold Bitcoin indirectly via funds that trade on exchanges. The new spot ETFs reportedly attracted billions of dollars in their first weeks of trading.
Experts suggest that the next Bitcoin ‘halving’ – a mechanism that takes place every four years to limit supply – could be another source of price upside. The next halving is scheduled for this coming April. With the $50,000 level achieved roughly two months before the halving, investors anticipate the Bitcoin price could break above its previous all-time high of $69,800 reached in November 2021. Tim Draper, the founder of Draper Associates, has even projected that the halving could push the price of Bitcoin as high as $250,000 by July.