In Washington and London, Bitcoin has surged to the $50,000 mark for the first time in over two years, driven by anticipation of forthcoming interest rate cuts and the recent regulatory approval of U.S. exchange-traded funds aimed at tracking its price.
The cryptocurrency has seen a 16.3% increase since the beginning of the year, reaching its highest point since December 27, 2021, on Monday. At 12:56 p.m. EST (1756 GMT), Bitcoin was up 4.96% for the day at $49,899, hovering around the $50,000 level.
Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of the crypto lending platform Nexo, noted the significance of Bitcoin hitting the $50,000 milestone, particularly following the introduction of spot ETFs last month, which failed to push the price above this key psychological level and instead resulted in a 20% sell-off.
On Monday, crypto-related stocks also experienced gains, with Coinbase up 4.9%, and crypto miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital up 10.8% and 11.9%, respectively. Shares of software firm MicroStrategy, known for its significant investments in Bitcoin, saw a 10.2% increase.