Bitcoin, the inaugural cryptocurrency, experienced a 3.79% surge in the 24-hour period preceding 8:20 am UTC, reaching a trading value of £58,504, marking its highest point in two years and three months.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin has seen an increase of over 13.5% on the weekly chart and more than 38% on the monthly chart.
This surge in Bitcoin’s price follows the recent announcement that Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy had purchased an additional 3,000 BTC, totalling $155 million at an average price of $51,813 between Feb. 15 and 25.
With a cumulative acquisition of 193,000 BTC for $6.09 billion at an average price of $31,544, MicroStrategy stands as the largest Bitcoin holder among publicly traded companies.
Founder of the digital asset investment fund ARK36, Mikkel Morch, attributes MicroStrategy’s recent acquisition as the driving force behind this rally. Morch stated in a research note shared with Cointelegraph:
“This rally is not merely reflected in numbers on a chart; it signifies the confidence among institutional investors in the transformative potential of cryptocurrencies…
Additionally, the approval for Bitcoin-owning ETFs in the United States has infused a new wave of positivity, increasing trading volumes and bringing crypto-linked firms into focus amidst a broader market overshadowed by uncertainty.”
Over the past 24 hours, the total crypto market capitalization has risen by 2.85% to £2.19 trillion.
READ MORE: Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF Records Record Low Outflows Amidst Rising Market Momentum
On Feb. 27, the industry reclaimed the £2-trillion market capitalization as Bitcoin surpassed £57,000, boosted by inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and an uplift in crypto investor sentiment.
Morch predicts the potential for a new all-time high for both Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) in the coming weeks, driven by the anticipation surrounding the upcoming Bitcoin halving and the potential approval of a United States spot Ether ETF. He elaborated:
“The excitement surrounding the approval of spot Ether ETFs further highlights the maturity of the cryptocurrency market, acknowledging Ethereum’s role not only as a digital currency but also as an infrastructure backbone for a future where finance and technology converge more seamlessly.”
The nine spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a combined trading volume of over $2 billion for the second consecutive day on Feb. 28.
Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has encountered its third consecutive trading day of dwindling net outflows, plummeting to a record low of £22.4 million as ETFs collectively achieved a two-week net inflow peak.
Farside Investor data for 26th February reveals that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) experienced three successive days of diminishing net outflows on 22nd, 23rd, and 26th February.
The trading week culminated on Friday with a daily net outflow of £44.2 million, which further halved on 26th February.
Daily net GBTC outflows reached their zenith on 22nd January, amounting to £640.5 million.
Nevertheless, Grayscale has endured 31 consecutive trading days of outflows since its transition to an ETF on 11th January, with a total of £7.47 billion drained from the ETF.
CEO of Bitcoin technology firm Blockstream, Adam Back, shared on X on 26th February that he is “waiting for the day GBTC flashes an inflow.”
Back suggested that while it “could happen,” it would necessitate “just enough premium” to motivate traders to arbitrage the ETF.
Henrik Andersson, Chief Investment Officer at asset manager Apollo Crypto, concurred in a separate X post, asserting that when Grayscale’s fund records a net inflow for the first time, it “will be a mega signal to the market.”
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Meanwhile, Farside’s data for 26th February indicates that the combined net inflows of all Bitcoin ETFs excluding Invesco and Galaxy’s reached £515.5 million — the highest in two weeks.
The ETFs attained a combined net inflow of £631.3 million on 13th February but have struggled to sustain the momentum since, witnessing even a net outflow of £35.6 million on 21st February due to a comparatively larger outflow day from GBTC and smaller inflows to other funds.
Fidelity’s ETF garnered the majority of the inflows on 26th February, exceeding £243 million, constituting nearly half of the day’s net total.
It marks FBTC’s second-highest inflow day ever, following behind 17th January.
The remaining half of the net inflow stemmed from BlackRock’s ETF, along with ARK Invest and 21Shares fund, which received respective inflows of nearly £112 million and over £130.5 million.
Trading volumes for the “new nine” spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have hit a fresh daily record as BTC surged to as high as $54,938 on Monday.
On February 26, trading volumes for the nine surpassed $2.4 billion, surpassing the previous record of $2.2 billion set on the inaugural trading day, January 11, according to data disclosed by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
The figures for both days excluded volume from Grayscale’s converted Bitcoin ETF product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
BlackRock’s IBIT led the pack on February 26 with £1.29 billion, establishing its own daily record by approximately 30%, while Fidelity’s FBTC trailed at £576 million.
Flows from the ARK 21Shares (ARKB) and Bitwise (BITB) ETFs totalled £276 million and £81 million, respectively.
Balchunas remarked he wasn’t “totally sure” where the new interest stemmed from but highlighted that volumes typically surge on the first day of the trading week.
Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart observed February 26 marked the second-largest trading day recorded at £3.2 billion when incorporating flows from Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF.
Earlier in the trading session, when IBIT surpassed the £1-billion milestone, Balchunas pointed out that IBIT had secured the 11th largest volume among all ETFs.
“Insane number for newbie ETF (especially one with ten competitors). £1b/day is big boy level volume, enough for (even big) institutional consideration.”
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Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price surged to £54,938 on February 26 — reaching a two-year high — although it still falls short of Bitcoin’s all-time peak of £69,044 on November 10, 2021, as per CoinGecko data.
Related: BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF reaches top 0.2% of all ETFs so far this year
While flow data for February 26 is pending, over £583 million streamed into spot Bitcoin ETFs in the four-day trading week prior, as per BitMEX Research.
A net outflow of £35.7 million was recorded on February 21, marking the first day without inflows since January 25.
Year-to-date inflows have now surpassed £5.5 billion.
IBIT, FBTC, ARKB, and BITB have accumulated the most substantial inflows of £5.9 billion, £4 billion, £1.4 billion, and £1 billion, respectively, while GBTC has witnessed outflows of £7.4 billion.
Financial services firm the Carlson Group has reportedly incorporated four out of the 10 Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) into its offerings for registered investment advisers (RIAs).
The £30 billion investment firm prioritised asset growth, trading volume, and low fees in selecting funds from BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton, as reported by Bloomberg on 23rd February.
A total of £6.6 billion has been invested in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) since its debut on 11th January, while Fidelity has seen £4.8 billion inflows to its Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC).
The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) and Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) have the lowest fees among issuers, charging 0.2% and 0.19% respectively.
“Bitwise and Franklin Templeton have committed to being the lowest-cost providers in the space, and have also seen large inflows and trading volumes.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Struggles Amidst Institutional Investment Slowdown
Both firms also have established in-house digital asset research teams and expertise that we feel are beneficial to the continuing growth and management of the products, as well as adviser research and education,” told Bloomberg Grant Engelbart, the company’s vice president and investment strategist.
Financial adviser platforms are crucial to introducing crypto products to new audiences, and large trading firms such as LPL Financial Holdings are examining recently approved Bitcoin ETFs.
The funds will be available to over 19,000 independent financial advisers overseeing £1.4 trillion in assets if approved. The ETFs are already available for financial advisers at Fidelity and Charles Schwab.
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, due diligence from trading platforms may delay the Bitcoin fund’s adoption.
“A lot of the big institutions, these warehouses, these platforms where brokers or advisers work, they can’t just buy anything they want.
There’s like an approved list and a not approved list,” the analyst explained.
Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange BitForex has ceased withdrawals for a minimum of three days without offering an explanation.
Prior to the suspension, approximately $56 million in cryptocurrency had been withdrawn from the exchange’s wallets.
According to an X post on February 23, on-chain investigator ZachXBT stated that three BitForex hot wallets experienced outflows of approximately $56.5 million in cryptocurrencies before the exchange halted transaction processing.
The exchange’s X account has not seen any updates since May 2023
BitForex users are encountering issues with their accounts, ranging from being unable to access them to finding that the dashboard displays no assets.
Numerous users have shared a pop-up screen indicating they are blocked from accessing the company’s website.
Attempts by Cointelegraph to access the BitForex website encountered the same issue. However, certain pages of the exchange’s website remain active.
For instance, an announcement dated January 31, disclosing the departure of BitForex CEO Jason Luo, was still accessible on the website at the time of writing.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Halving Threatens US Miner Profitability and Sparks Global Migration Talks
In September 2023, BitForex was among the foremost global cryptocurrency exchanges in terms of capitalization, with a daily trading volume of approximately $2.6 billion in cryptocurrency.
Currently, CoinMarketCap does not provide real-time data on BitForex.
In April 2023, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) accused BitForex of breaching the country’s fund settlement laws, alleging that the exchange conducted business in the country without proper registration.
GHowever, BitForex has not attracted significant attention from regulators or the media since then.
Last week, another Hong Kong-based exchange, Atom Asset Exchange (AAX), transferred around $55.6 million worth of Ether (ETH) from its wallets.
AAX ceased all operations on November 13, 2022, just two days after FTX filed for bankruptcy. Following its closure, AAX’s former CEO Thor Chan and board member Haoming Liang were arrested by Hong Kong police in 2022.
Nevertheless, the founder of AAX, whose identity remains undisclosed, is purportedly still evading authorities with 230 million Hong Kong dollars ($29.41 million) worth of users’ funds and private keys granting access to exchange wallets.
Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms has reported a 19% increase in its Bitcoin production for 2023, mining a total of 6,626 BTC.
The surge in production contributed to a rise in annual revenue, primarily attributed to the higher average price of Bitcoin throughout 2023 compared to the bear market witnessed in 2022.
According to a report published by Riot Platforms on February 22, the average cost for the firm to mine a single Bitcoin in 2023 decreased by approximately $3,686 compared to the previous year.
“Riot’s cost to mine Bitcoin for 2023, net of power credits allocated to self-mining, averaged $7,539 per Bitcoin versus $11,225 in 2022, a decrease of 33% year-over-year,” the report highlights.
Moreover, the average value of Bitcoin in 2023 exceeded that of 2022, leading to a revenue increase for the year, totalling $280.7 million, compared to $259.2 million in the previous year.
“The increase in Bitcoin Mining revenue was driven by slightly higher values of Bitcoin mined in 2023, which averaged $28,859 per Bitcoin as compared to an average price of $28,245 per Bitcoin in 2022.”
The crypto market faced a severe downturn in 2022, marked by the collapse of several crypto firms, including major exchange FTX.
Riot’s share price witnessed a significant surge of 47.47% over the past month.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Struggles Amidst Institutional Investment Slowdown
However, it experienced a decline of approximately 10.65% over the five-day trading period last week, with its current share price standing at $14.85.
In December 2023, Cointelegraph reported Riot’s acquisition of 66,560 mining rigs from manufacturer MicroBT, marking one of the largest expansions of hash rate in the firm’s history ahead of the Bitcoin halving scheduled for April.
Other Bitcoin mining firms also reported varying production results in 2023. Core Scientific produced 19,274 Bitcoin, while CleanSpark experienced a 60% surge compared to 2022, mining over 7,300 Bitcoin during the year.
Marathon Digital mined 12,852 Bitcoin in 2023, with a notable increase of 1,853 Bitcoin in December alone, representing a 56% surge from November and a remarkable 290% increase over December 2022.
In more recent developments, Riot, alongside the Texas Blockchain Council, filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, and the Office of Management and Budget for demanding invasive data from crypto miners.
Potential inertia in the price of Bitcoin following the Bitcoin halving could destabilise the share prices of high-cost public miners in the United States, potentially compelling some to relocate overseas.
“We might see a mining stock bloodbath as investors realise these companies are barely making money,” says Jaran Mellerud, founder and chief mining strategist of Hashlabs Mining, alluding to the potential outcome if the Bitcoin price fails to experience a significant rise after the halving.
Mellerud is currently observing the three to four-month period post-halving to gauge the impact on miner profitability due to the reduction in block rewards.
The upcoming Bitcoin halving is anticipated to take place on April 24, according to CoinMarketCap.
It will decrease Bitcoin miner rewards from 6.25 BTC (£234,750) to 3.125 BTC (£117,375), although historical trends suggest a subsequent surge in the Bitcoin price.
During the last halving event on May 11, 2020, Bitcoin was valued at $8,750 and experienced a staggering 430% increase five months later in October, soaring from $11,500 to $61,300 by mid-March 2021.
However, if Bitcoin fails to rally significantly within that three to four-month timeframe, “a significant portion of the network might need to power down their machines, particularly those paying hosting rates of $0.07 per kWh or more,” Mellerud noted, highlighting a notable concentration of these inefficient miners in the United States.
Consequently, Mellerud anticipates a shift in some of Bitcoin’s hash rate from the U.S. to countries with lower electricity rates, particularly in Africa and Latin America.
“My company, Hashlabs, is currently witnessing substantial demand from US-based miners who wish to relocate their machines to Ethiopia, where hosting rates are 30-40% lower than in the United States.”
Concerns regarding profitability surfaced in late January when Cantor Fitzgerald reported that 11 publicly listed Bitcoin miners would not be profitable post-halving if Bitcoin’s price remained around $40,000 (the price of Bitcoin at the time).
Cantor Fitzgerald’s “all in per coin” metric encompasses the total costs a Bitcoin miner would incur in producing a single Bitcoin, encompassing electricity costs, hosting fees, and other expenses.
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Nonetheless, with Bitcoin’s price currently standing at $51,000, only four of the 13 mining firms fall below the profitability threshold.
However, head analyst at Bitcoin mining firm Blockware Solutions, Mitchell Askew, informed Cointelegraph that most U.S. public miners would maintain profitability, especially those that invested in more efficient machines during the bear market.
Askew refuted Mellerud’s claim that most inefficient miners are based in the U.S., asserting that they constitute only a small fraction of Bitcoin’s total hash rate, making any hash rate loss negligible.
Nevertheless, even in the event of unprofitability, Askew outlined several reasons preventing U.S. miners from relocating overseas.
“[Many of them] are bound by fixed hosting contracts and must continue mining regardless of profitability,” while others mine primarily to accumulate non-Know Your Customer Bitcoin and are less concerned with profitability, according to Askew.
Mellerud identified Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Kenya as the most promising African countries to attract a larger share of the hash rate in the event of a mining migration.
Mellerud particularly highlighted Ethiopia’s “massive hydropower surplus” and the influx of Chinese miners as factors contributing to its appeal, projecting the African nation to capture 5–10% of Bitcoin’s total hash rate over the next few years.
Meanwhile, Mellerud identified Argentina and Paraguay as the most promising mining destinations in South America.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is soliciting feedback on a proposed rule alteration enabling the listing and trading of options for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
As per a notice dated February 23, the NYSE has sought a rule adjustment to authorise the listing and trading of options on the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITC), the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), and “any trust that holds Bitcoin.”
If sanctioned, the options will be traded “in the same manner as options on other ETFs (including commodities ETFs) on the Exchange,” states the notice.
This encompasses regulations such as listing criteria, expiry dates, strike prices, minimum price changes, position and exercise limits, margin requirements, and protocols for customer accounts and trading halts.
BlackRock is similarly pursuing endorsement for a comparable policy revision.
The asset manager has applied for rule amendments to list options on its Bitcoin ETF in conjunction with the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart foresees the SEC’s verdict arriving by September 2024 at the latest.
Options are utilised for portfolio hedging, income, or speculative purposes.
They are financial derivatives affording buyers the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specified asset at a predetermined price on a specific date.
READ MORE: Coinbase Advocates for Ether ETP Approval Amid SEC Scrutiny
In the realm of Bitcoin ETFs, options would enable investors to hedge or speculate on the price movements of a BTC ETF rather than Bitcoin itself.
The SEC has previously greenlit other commodity ETFs held by trusts, including the SPDR Gold Trust, iShares COMEX Gold Trust, iShares Silver Trust, and ETFS Gold Trust.
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein has been publicly advocating for regulators to endorse the crypto derivatives products.
According to the executive, options are advantageous for investors as they bolster “price discovery and can help investors better navigate market conditions or achieve desired outcomes, such as generating income.”
Similar to other investments and financial products, options trading carries risks that may not be suitable for all investors.
The SEC authorised the trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs on Wall Street on January 10, following years of rejections.
Former United States President Donald Trump has shifted his stance on Bitcoin. Once critical of the cryptocurrency, branding it a scam during his presidency, Trump now concedes that BTC is gaining traction and acceptance.
In a recent interview on Fox News, Trump was questioned about his perspective on the ascent of the Chinese digital currency and whether countering it necessitates embracing a decentralized currency like Bitcoin.
Trump reiterated his preference for the US dollar but acknowledged Bitcoin’s increasing popularity, stating:
“I like the dollar, but many people are doing it [using Bitcoin], and frankly, it’s taken a life of its own.
You probably have to do some regulation, as you know, but many people are embracing it.
And more and more, I’m seeing people wanting to pay Bitcoin, and you’re seeing something that’s interesting. So I can live with it one way or the other.”
This marked a departure from Trump’s previous disdain for Bitcoin during his presidency, where he had labelled it a scam and reportedly directed the treasury secretary to take action against it.
Amidst his campaign for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, speculation arises within the crypto community regarding the motive behind Trump’s newfound openness to Bitcoin.
Some view it as a strategic move to court votes from the expanding crypto sector, while others perceive it as typical of Trump’s ambivalent approach to issues.
One user, Blairja, suggests that Trump strategically alternated between pro-BTC and pro-US dollar statements to gauge public opinion, likening it to a fishing expedition to ascertain the prevailing sentiment among voters.
Indeed, politicians have increasingly leveraged cryptocurrency to appeal to tech-savvy demographics.
Trump currently leads the race for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, with fellow Republican Nikki Haley trailing behind him.
Bitcoin witnessed continued weakness on as consolidation coincided with a brief slowdown in institutional investment.
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, BTC struggled to maintain its price around $51,000.
Bulls found themselves confined within a narrow trading range for over a week, with concerns arising over the inflows to spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Recent days saw a significant deceleration in these inflows, with February 21st even experiencing a net outflow of approximately $36 million, as per data shared on X (formerly Twitter) by sources including BitMEX Research.
February 22nd showed heightened activity, with net inflows surpassing a quarter of a million dollars, even after factoring in outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
“Normality resumed with a $251M inflow into the Bitcoin ETFs,” responded James Van Straten, research and data analyst at crypto insights firm CryptoSlate.
Addressing the pace of buying from ETF operators, Thomas Fahrer, CEO of crypto-focused reviews portal Apollo, predicted that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), the largest among them, would alter BTC supply dynamics in the future.
“98% of all the #Bitcoin in existence already costs >100K if you tried to buy it,” he argued alongside a chart of IBIT holdings.
“Remember that the current price is just the marginal trade. Blackrock is going to test this theory, so we’ll find out soon enough.”
As of February 23rd, IBIT held 124,535 BTC ($6.35 billion), according to data from Apollo’s own ETF tracker.
Turning to low-timeframe BTC price analysis, popular trader Skew encapsulated the sentiment among seasoned market observers.
He concluded that the uptrend remained intact, but significant support levels were now back in focus.
These included the 88-period and 100-period exponential moving averages (EMAs) on the four-hour chart at $50,017 and $49,654 respectively, along with the 18-period EMA on the daily chart at $49,645.
“Currently, price trades around range low & 4H 55EMA which typically is a near term trend inflection point, meaning momentum picks up soon,” part of his latest X analysis read.