The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is approaching $57,000 U.S., its highest level since December 2021, as the rally in cryptocurrencies continues to gather strength.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is rising along with the entire market for digital assets as sentiment towards riskier assets improves among investors.
The price of Bitcoin has now risen more than 10% over the last two days, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The current upswing has also been sparked by news that software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR) purchased an additional 3,000 Bitcoins for $155 million U.S. over the past week.
MicroStrategy now holds 190,000 Bitcoin currently valued at more than $10 billion U.S., making it the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency in the world.
At the same time, capital continues to flow into the new crop of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at record levels.
Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency rising rapidly right now. Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest crypto by market cap, has seen its price rise to a multi-month high of $3,250 U.S.
Ethereum is rising on speculation that regulators in the U.S. will also approve spot ETFs tied to its price later this year as they have done for Bitcoin.
Additionally, there is a Bitcoin halving event slated to take place in mid-April. A halving event occurs every four years, with the rewards for mining Bitcoin literally cut in half.
Currently trading at $56,600 U.S., the price of Bitcoin has gained 28% so far in 2024 and is up 140% over the last 12 months.
