Bitcoin breaches $71K for the first time

With Bitcoin rising to unprecedented heights as the world’s most popular digital currency, cryptocurrency markets are once again in the spotlight. On March 11th, Bitcoin touched a new peak of $71,415, rising 2.62% in a single day. It increased by 10% in the recent week and by 47% in the previous month. Not long after Ether broke through the $4,000 barrier for the first time since December 2021, a record broken.

The cryptocurrency hit a new high thirty-six days before the much-awaited April 20 Bitcoin halving, The mining incentives will reduce during this event from 6.25 BTC, or $418,800, to 3.125 BTC, or $209,400. Shortly after breaking its previous record of $69,200 on March 5, the cryptocurrency reached its highest weekly closing price of $68,955 on March 10.

Bitcoin ETFs hold more than 4% of all.

The increased institutional interest sparked by the US launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is the main reason for the recent increase in Bitcoin’s trend. Dune reports that since their creation, these ETFs have amassed roughly $56.9 billion in on-chain holdings, or 4.06% of the total supply. If the current rate of growth continues, ETFs are predict to own 8.65% of the total amount of Bitcoin yearly.

According to statistics from HODL15 Capital, the spot Bitcoin ETFs totaled 33,000 BTC ($2.3 billion) last week, with Grayscale’s GBTC fund seeing outflows of over 10,200 BTC.

By the end of June, more institutions representing “trillions of dollars in assets” are expected to enter the market for spot BTC ETFs, according to a March 9 investment report from digital asset management Bitwise. Meanwhile, even if it is hitting all-time highs, big investors, or “whales,” are sticking to their holdings. There are now 2,107 distinct addresses with at least 1,000 Bitcoin as of March 9. This number is still less than the record high of 2,489 addresses that noted in February 2021, when the price of Bitcoin above $46,000.