Bitcoin started the Asian trading week with a bounce in its step as the cryptocurrency broke through the $40,000 ceiling for the first time this year. Ether, the virtual coin of the Ethereum blockchain, also topped its annual performance with $2,253. Despite these positive movements, both currencies are still performing well below their respective $60,000 and $4,000 highs in 2021.
Bitcoin and Ethereum achieve all-year highs
According to Reuters, these upticks follow an economic sigh of relief after US interest rate cuts and widespread anticipation that US stock market-traded bitcoin funds will soon be approved. Bitcoin broke records on Monday, when it hit the $41,522 mark, the highest value the digital currency reflected since April 2022.
Analysts indicated the world’s most prominent cryptocurrency experienced a 50% rally in October, building continued momentum towards stabilisation and growth. It seems this established a certain shift away from Bitcoin’s bearish 2022 and early 2023 slump.
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Many also feel the shadow cast by the FTX collapse and ensuing fraud chaos is lifting, reviving investor interest in cryptocurrency as evidenced by institutional buying through November. Reuters quoted Justin d’Anethan, the head of business development for Asia-Pacific at Keyrock, a digital assets marketing company, who stated that when Bitcoin plummeted to a $16,000 low in 2022 it probably signified the rock-bottom mark for this digital asset.
Other assets, such as gold, also rallied in the expectation that the US Federal Reserve is halting, and will start cutting, rate hikes. The precious metal’s last recorded price sat at $2,089.70 on Monday before the US market opening bell.
