Bitcoin Reaches Fresh New High as Ethereum Passes $4k Mark

Just 24 hours ago Bitcoin put in a new all-time high at USD $70,005.20 (AUD $105,815.97) just to see that record smashed by more than USD $2.5k. 

BTC is up 5% in the past 24 hours and over 6% in the past week, currently trading at USD $72,140.51 (AUD $108,980.54) after putting in the new high of USD $72,850.71 (AUD $110,053.41) overnight.

Bitcoin (BTC), monthly graph, source: CoinMarketCap

Related: XRP, Litecoin Lead Rally With 20% Gains, What’s Behind the Surge?

Analysts at Santiment see two bullish indicators here, which make them continue with a bullish outlook. First, large amounts of inactive Bitcoin are re-entering the market, serving as a key indicator of a bull market trend.

Second, the fact that chatter about BTC is low in relation to the price movement indicates that we will see more upside movement, according to the analytics platform.

The broader market sentiment is somewhat more cautious, with some analysts suggesting that markets have already priced in falling interest rates.

Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock said at the Australian Financial Review Business Summit that short-term trouble is still on the cards. Li said that markets may be underestimating how quickly inflation could decrease as the pandemic’s effects unwind and how inflation targets might lead to volatile market reactions.

In the near term, markets may not be appreciating how quickly inflation can fall through the simple mechanics of the pandemic unwind.

Wei Li, BlackRock global chief investment strategist

Ethereum Hits 4k, Shy of All-Time Highs

Meanwhile, the second largest crypto by market cap, ETH, continues its rally, gaining 62% month-on-month. ETH is trading for USD $4,091 (AUD $6,178) at the time of writing, USD $800 short of its all-time high in November 2021.

Ethereum (ETH), monthly graph, source: CoinMarketCap

The price surge for ETH comes amid the much-awaited Dencun upgrade, which is now less than 48 hours away, you can read more about the upgrade here.

But there may be rough seas ahead for Ether, as some analysts have changed their views on the approval of the Spot Ethereum ETFs—which are hoped to trigger a bull run similar to what Bitcoin has experienced.

After the approval of the Spot Bitcoin ETFs in January many had concluded that getting the green light by US regulators in May is only a formality at this point. However, more and more uncertainty around this is mounting—and while this might mean delays for the approval, it doesn’t necessarily spell doom for Ether ETFs.

Similarly, the outlook for Ethereum is not entirely clear from a competitive perspective. In fact, Solana, a fierce competitor for the number two spot, has just set a new record for daily new addresses on the network. Additionally, DeFi activity on Solana has been picking up too.

Solana, TVL, source: DeFiLlama

Related: Anthony Scaramucci And Raoul Pal Discuss Crypto Revolution

After a long downturn since 2022, Solana’s DeFi ecosystem is starting to heat up once again—although with just USD $3.245bn (AUD $4.912bn) in total value locked (TVL), Solana accounts still only for a fraction of the global TVL which is currently USD $103.646b (AUD $156.66bn).