[NEW] Bitcoin surpasses $50,000 for the first time in about two years, nearing its all-time high in Japanese yen

Bitcoin (BTC) temporarily surpassed $50,000 (approximately 7.47 million yen) on the 13th. This is the first time it has exceeded $50,000 in about two years since December 2021.

Although the Bitcoin price had temporarily stagnated since the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF, which was a long-cherished wish in the cryptocurrency industry in January this year, this once again impressed upon us that we are in the midst of a bull market.

Bitcoin's all-time high is $69,000 (approximately 10.3 million yen) in dollar terms, but in Japanese yen terms it was about 7.9 million yen in November 2021. Depending on future price movements, it is possible that the all-time high in Japanese yen terms will be updated soon.

In addition, along with the rise in Bitcoin, buying activity has also become active in the altcoin market. Among major altcoins, Ethereum (ETH) is approaching $2,700 (approx. JPY 404,000), up more than 6% from the previous day, and Solana (SOL) has also surpassed $115 (approx. JPY 17,300), showing a notable inflow of funds.

Increased inflow of funds into Bitcoin spot ETFs and awareness of the halving

Factors that have led to the bottoming out of the cryptocurrency market include the Bitcoin halving and the strong performance of Bitcoin spot ETFs. In particular, Bitcoin's halving occurs when 210,000 blocks are generated, and the cycle is said to be about four years.

The previous halving was on May 12, 2020, when mining rewards were halved from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. With the halving this time, mining rewards will be halved to 3.125 BTC.

Since mining rewards are halved and the amount of Bitcoin circulating in the market decreases accordingly, it is said that the scarcity of Bitcoin increases with each halving.

In fact, Bitcoin's price has risen significantly with each halving. The price of Bitcoin at the time of the last halving was about $8,600 (about 920,000 yen), and this halving is expected to be significantly higher.

The halving is currently expected to occur in April.

In addition, regarding Bitcoin spot ETFs, there was a time when there was a significant outflow from GBTC provided by Grayscale, but this is now slowing down.

On the other hand, the inflow of funds into Bitcoin spot ETFs is on the rise, and the total Bitcoin held by all companies other than Grayscale, which provides the ETF, is said to have reached 216,309 BTC by the 9th of this month.

This is more than the 190,000 BTC held by MicroStrategy, known as the company with the largest Bitcoin holdings, and is equivalent to approximately $10.79 billion (1.613 trillion yen) at the time of writing.

Among the companies offering Bitcoin spot ETFs, major asset management company BlackRock holds the largest amount, and it is expected that Bitcoin purchases will continue to be centered around this company.

In addition, the Nasdaq and Dow, which are home to many tech stocks, have reached new highs, and the growing risk-on trend is also contributing to the inflow of funds into cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Reference:X (formerly Twitter)

Image: Shutterstock

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