The world’s largest cryptocurrency is on a tear. Bitcoin rocketed past $120,000 for the first time in history to notch a new all-time high of nearly $123,000 early Monday morning, according to data from Binance. The cryptocurrency posted a daily jump of about 3% and a weekly gain of more than 12%.
Bitcoin’s Monday surge follows a string of recent highs. After hovering under $110,000 for more than a month, the world’s largest cryptocurrency posted new records on Thursday and through the weekend amid a corresponding rally in the stock market.
Bitcoin’s jump in price also comes amid a glut of demand from institutional investors, who are more likely to invest in crypto through digital asset products offered by established Wall Street firms. Crypto ETFs from the asset management giant BlackRock saw an influx of more than $2.4 billion over the past week, according to data from the crypto investment firm CoinShares.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, rose nearly 3% over the past day to shoot past $3,000. It’s up 20% in the past week. Despite the gains from the two largest cryptocurrencies, the total market capitalization of all digital assets was down 0.5% day-over-day to about $3.87 trillion.
In total, crypto ETFs recorded an inflow of $3.7 billion last week, the second-largest week on record, according to CoinShares.
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, attributed the booming demand for Bitcoin to “political developments and signals from the Federal Reserve.”
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve released minutes for its June meeting. Officials largely agreed that there would be cuts in interest rates sometime this year. “Most participants assessed that some reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate this year would likely be appropriate,” read the summary of the meeting.
Meanwhile, positive political developments for crypto in Congress buoyed investor enthusiasm, said Butterfill. The House is set to vote this week on the GENIUS Act, a bill that would regulate stablecoins, which the Senate passed in June. It is also set to vote on the CLARITY Act, legislation that would specify how U.S. financial agencies should regulate digital assets writ large.
