Bitcoin Surges Beyond $57K: Institutional Interest Soars

After two weeks of consolidation, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), smashed past $57,000 earlier today in a massive breakout. As of press time, the Bitcoin price today is $ 56,141 with a 24-hour trading volume of $ 64.00B; the BTC price increased 8.98% in the last 24 hours, with its market cap going over $1.1 trillion for the first time since 2021.

The huge jump in the Bitcoin price comes on the day the S&P 500 was trading negatively, and on Feb 26, the S&P 500 ended 0.5% down while Bitcoin recorded an upward move with a staggering 10% gain. This shows that BTC and the broader crypto markets rely less on equities. A lack of a major link between cryptocurrency and stock markets has made history’s most big bull runs for Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins possible.

Bitcoin has performed better than traditional assets like stocks and gold in the current year, and the ratio comparing Bitcoin’s price to that of the precious metal has reached its highest level in over two years. Since the start of the year, Bitcoin’s price has jumped by 33%, continuing a sustained upward trend that has fueled interest in altcoins like Ether and BNB.

ETFs for Bitcoin Break Records

Since Jan 11, $5.6 billion has gone into several big Bitcoin ETFs launched in the US, indicating an expanding interest in the token beyond dedicated digital asset fans. The coming reduction in BTC’s supply growth, known as the Bitcoin halving, further adds to the positive sentiment around the cryptocurrency.

On Monday, the nine BTC ETFs recorded an all-time new high of $2.4 billion in trading volumes, and BlackRock’s IBIT alone recorded over $1 billion in trading volumes.

It's official..the New Nine Bitcoin ETFs have broken all time volume record today with $2.4b, just barely beating Day One but about double their recent daily average. $IBIT went wild accounting for $1.3b of it, breaking its record by about 30%. pic.twitter.com/MiCs1rzttM

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) February 26, 2024

Furthermore, Grayscale’s GBTC recorded its lowest outflows so far at $22.4 million. This shows the massive influx of institutional capital into Bitcoin ETFs even when the macros look uncertain.

On Monday, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy announced the purchase of about 3,000 more tokens this month. With this latest buy, the company’s Bitcoin holdings total around $10 billion. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez highlighted that whale buying has continued strongly throughout the last month. More than 150 new addresses, each holding over 1,000 BTC, have been created over the last month.

#Bitcoin whales are going parabolic! In just the last month, over 150 new #BTC addresses, each holding more than 1,000 $BTC, have been created. pic.twitter.com/3lox2KrPcm

— Ali (@ali_charts) February 26, 2024

BTC comfortably kept positions above the 50-day and 200-day EMAs, confirming positive market signs. A breakthrough past the $57,000 resistance level would strengthen a potential rise toward $60,000. The focus stays on BTC-spot ETF market flow data.

Instead, slipping below the $55,000 mark would bring the $53,000 support level into play. With a 14-daily RSI reading of 80.05, BTC finds itself overbought. Increased selling pressure could be expected near the $57,000 resistance level.

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