Representation of bitcoin cryptocurrency is seen in this illustration. File Photo: Reuters
THE total value invested in bitcoin surpassed $1 trillion (R19trl) yesterday for the first time since November 2021 as inflows to US spot bitcoin exchange traded funds continued to support prices.
Bitcoin's price reached $51 902 yesterday, its latest 25-month high and a rise of 4.7% on the day, taking the token’s market cap to $1.017 trillion, according to price platform Coingecko.
The all-time high for bitcoin's market cap was $1.28trl hit in November 2021, according to Coingecko.
The world's largest cryptocurrency has risen around 20% since the start of February, already set for its biggest monthly rise since October.
Investments in bitcoin make up for more than half of the $2.01trl parked in the overall cryptocurrency market, which includes ether and other digital coins.
Strong inflows to new US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have driven some of the price action in recent weeks, say analysts, and capital flows into the 11 US spot bitcoin ETFs increased to $1.64bn in the week to Wednesday, LSEG Lipper data showed.
The previous five trading sessions saw inflows of $409 million to the products, which received regulatory approval and began trading in January.
“Whether this pace will be sustained remains to be seen but, in crypto, price often drives flow,” said analysts at crypto liquidity provider B2C2.
“One has to imagine that if there are more days like the last few, large inflows will be met by further price rises for spot (bitcoin).”
Second-largest token ether, which underpins the ethereum network, was last up 4.8% at $2 761, its highest since May 2022.
REUTERS