Yahoo Finance Bitcoin price heads past $41,500, extending yearly gains to above 150%
Bitcoin's price (BTC-USD) headed to its highest point since April last year on Monday, jumping 5.4% as it extended its year-to-date gains to more than 150%.
Bitcoin moved past $41,000 (£32,355) for the first time since April 2022.
The cryptocurrency was buoyed by growing optimism about the potential approval of a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) approval in the US, as financial giants such as Blackrock (BLK) and Fidelity line up for a listing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has so far not allowed such a fund to be listed, citing worries about market manipulation of the underlying asset. Market maturation and improved safeguards put in place by financial giants have made a listing more likely.
Bitcoin was trading at $41,687 on Monday.
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Ethereum (ETH-USD), the second largest cryptoasset by market cap, also rose around 4% to trade above $2,200.
The moves come hand in hand with a spike in gold prices, which sent the commodity to all-time highs on Monday.
Gold (GC=F) bounded as much as 3.1% higher at the start of trade, hitting $2,135.39 a troy ounce, before falling back down. As of market open in Europe gold was trading 0.3% lower. The yen also strengthened. Traders typically buy gold and the yen as appetite for risk weakens.
Bitcoin's price is also sensitive to macroeconomic events. Comments from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Friday suggested the central bank might be ready to pause rate hikes, with a possible cut now being put at a 60% probability by mid-2024.
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