Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced a significant surge in value earlier this week, with Bitcoin surpassing $57,000 per coin for the first time since November 2021. Despite a slight decrease to around $56,000 at the time of writing, the cryptocurrency market witnessed a notable rally.
Bitcoin’s Volatility and Market Impact
On February 26, Bitcoin traded below $51,000, but a sharp increase during U.S. trading hours propelled it up by nearly $7,000, marking a daily increase of over 10%. This surge led to Bitcoin’s market capitalization surpassing $1.1 trillion. Notably, more than 80,000 short positions on Bitcoin, totaling $187 million, were forcibly closed in a single day, indicating challenges for traders who had bet against the rising exchange rate, adds NIX Solutions.
Record-Breaking ETF Trading and Ethereum’s Milestone
Coindesk service reported a record daily trading volume of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin in the U.S., exceeding $2.4 billion. Additionally, over $1.3 billion flowed into ETFs from BlackRock. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by capitalization, also reached a yearly high, trading above $3,200 per coin, with a total capitalization exceeding $386 million. Notably, other top-ten cryptocurrencies experienced average daily price increases ranging from 3-6%.