The Bitcoin price reached a new all-time high against the US dollar last night, continuing a record-breaking week against international currencies before the cryptocurrency fell back 10 per cent in value. Image source: Pexels.
The world’s most well-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin reached a new all time high overnight, rising just above its previous high set in 2021.
Throughout the week, Bitcoin had already been reaching new all-time highs against major currencies, including the Australian dollar on February 29, and the Euro and British pound on March 4.
At 2:00am AEDT, a single Bitcoin’s value breached US$69,000, reaching close to or just over US$69,200 ($106,500) on most major exchanges and cryptocurrency indices, further increasing its highs across other currencies.
Bitcoin’s previous all-time high was set in November 2021, when it reached US$68,999.99.
However, the price quickly retraced, falling almost US$1,000 per minute at one point, eventually falling as far below as US$59,700 ($91,820) by around 7am.
At press time, the Bitcoin price had risen back to just over US$63,000, and still up by almost 50 per cent since 1 January 2024.
The recent and sharp increases in Bitcoin’s value are largely attributed to the recent approval of a series of Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in January.
On 10 January, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) begrudgingly approved the first Bitcoin ETFs in the US, allowing investment firms to trade Bitcoin on traditional stock exchanges like other commodities.
Conditions in the financial sector are also improving, with the US Federal Reserve appearing more likely to cut American interest rates later this year as inflation continues to improve.
As a result, investors and traders across the board have been significantly more positive, with the US and Australian stock markets also reaching new all-time highs this week.
Other major cryptocurrencies had been buoyed by the Bitcoin price action and improving economic outlooks.
Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency and blockchain, breaching US$3,800 ($5,800) at a similar time of Bitcoin’s high; a significant rise since its 2022 low of about US$1,500.
However, Ether’s price remains significantly below its 2021 all-time high of roughly US$4,800.
Many crypto investors and traders remain optimistic about Ethereum’s future price, with Ethereum ETFs waiting for potential SEC approval later this year, as well as the Dencun upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain on 13 March, 2024.
