Bitcoin breaches $68,000 level; what’s fuelling the rally?

Bitcoin sparked huge fluctuation in the past 24 hours, with the biggest valued crypto breaching the $68,000 level and then falling as low as $62,500 before recovering to $66,823.94 currently, thereby keeping investors on toes. As the crypto touched a new high of $68,000 on Monday, investors are hopeful it'll soon go past its previous all-time high of $68,990 recorded in November 2021.

The wrold's largest valued digital currency, which has risen over 59% in this year alone, could see increased leverage as it approaches new all-time levels, which could happen anytime, suggest analysts.

The key reason behind a sharp rise in Bitcoin price is believed to be a surge in inflows of U.S.-based Bitcoin funds, including Spot exchange-traded funds (BTC ETFs). Highly ambitious estimates forecast Bitcoin to double by the end of the calendar year 2024.

"Currently trading just below $68K, institutional participation via spot BTC ETFs and the investor’s anticipation ahead of BTC halving seems to be the key drivers for BTC’s price performance," says Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead, CoinSwitch Ventures.

Reports suggest spot BTC ETFs recorded their second-highest daily volume on Monday, with $5.5 billion worth of shares traded. "BlackRock’s IBIT ETF hosted $2.4 billion worth of volume alone, with its AUM climbing to $11 billion," says Chaturvedi.

In a remarkable comeback, Bitcoin had soared past the $50,000 mark on February 14, 2024, and touched the $57,000 level for the first time since November 2021 on February 27. The last time Bitcoin achieved this level was in December 2021, which was followed by a dramatic downturn to a low of $16000 by the 2022-end, precipitated by a series of adverse events.

BTC has grown over 56.85% over the past month and over 159.50% in the last 6 months. "With the halving still underway, we may get to see BTC prices go even higher and hit new ATHs before retracing and continuing its rise," Chaturvedi adds.

Additionally, there has been a rise in meme coins, too, with roughly 7 meme coins now ranking among the top 100 cryptos by m-cap. Shivam Thakral, CEO of digital asset exchange BuyUcoin, says yesterday's 10% rise makes a strong case for the digital currency to rise and break through the $68,500 level. "Bitcoin is only $500 away from its All-Time High of $69,000. Ethereum, on the other hand, is on the path to breach $4000 amid memecoin frenzy. Popular meme-coins like SHIBA INU have experienced more than a 100% pump in a single day."

Analysts are also expecting Ethereum prices to rise, with expectations of the approval for a spot Ether ETF soon. Ethereum, meanwhile, is trading at $3,713.50, a surge of 6.24% in the past 24 hours. The crypto has surged 11.07% in the past week; 61.47% in the past month; and 127.19% in the past six months. Ethereum touched its lifetime high of $4,644.12 on November 12, 2021, though the crypto plunged to $1,060 a year later on July 1, 2022.

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