Bitcoin Leaps Past $54,000 Barrier For First Time Since 2021: Will It Crack $60,000 This Week?

Bitcoin jumped above $54,000 on Monday, reaching its highest level in over two years — sparking speculations about a potential return to its lifetime high prices.

Ether (ETH), the market’s second-largest digital coin, also surged by around 3.2%, hitting $3,177 amid a crypto-wide market recovery. 

Bitcoin’s Bullish Run

Back in 2021, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), flew past $53,000 per coin for the first time in history. After dropping by around 74% from its all-time high in the Terra-powered crisis of 2022, the crypto had a lot of ground to make up. But today, BTC finally roared past the $53,000 level once again.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was hovering at $54,452 at press time, according to data from CoinGecko. That’s a 5.0% gain from yesterday and a 2.8% increase from last week.

Bitcoin began the month sitting at just above $42,000 and steadily posted gains until it topped $50K on Feb. 12. This was the first time that BTC had surged above $50,000 since December 2021.

Since then, however, the premier crypto hasn’t made any notable price moves. It had been holding steady above the $50K zone for roughly 14 days now but has mostly been trading between the $51,000 and $52,000 range lately before the rally on Monday.

This jump is mainly attributed to rising investor interest, specifically via spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have seen substantial inflows. The spot BTC investment vehicles saw nearly $5 billion in net inflow since their debut on Jan. 11, spotlighting the shifting investor preference towards regulated and easily accessible products for crypto exposure.

Can Bitcoin Touch $100,000 This Year?

Despite the ongoing pump, the price of Bitcoin is still 22.7% below the $69,044 all-time high registered in Nov. 2021. However, the longer the ETF inflow persists, the higher the chance of a supply shock propelling Bitcoin above $60,000 in the near term.

Moreover, Bitcoin is expected to undergo the halving event around April 20. The halving programmatically happens every four years and slashes the BTC rewards given to miners for securing the network by 50% to ward off inflation. This means fewer new BTC will be minted after the halving, subsequently slowing the supply expansion. Market pundits predict that the skyrocketing demand for BTC following the Bitcoin ETF launch coupled with the upcoming supply crunch resulting from the halving could send BTC to six digits in no time.

Standard Chartered Bank analysts think BTC is set to reach $100,000 before the end of 2024. Bitcoin’s upcoming halving will be one of the catalysts for the price upside.