Bitcoin traded to an all-time high of over US$122,000 on Monday, lifted by a wave of institutional buying and growing investor optimism ahead of a pivotal “Crypto Week” in Washington.
- •The 3.6% spike over the past 24 hours, comes as U.S. lawmakers prepare to debate a slate of potentially transformative crypto bills such as the Genius Act, Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, which could set the foundation for formal oversight of digital assets.
- •The fresh momentum was driven by a Japanese firm Metaplanet Inc., which disclosed it had purchased 797 more Bitcoins, pushing its holdings to 16,352 and cementing its position as the fifth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder.
- •With other cryptocurrencies also on the ascent — Ether , the second-largest token, scaling to a peak of US$3,059.60, while XRP and Solana gained about 3% each — the crypto market is now worth nearly $3.8 trillion, according to Coin Market Cap.
“There’s unrelenting demand from corporations and institutional investors, and that’s colliding with severely limited supply. This institutional investment into Bitcoin is a one-time event. It’s going to take years to play out,” Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise told CNBC News.
Major U.S. asset managers including BlackRock and Fidelity have also continued to increase exposure through spot ETFs, which have seen record inflows.
Analysts say that Bitcoin prices could soar to US$160,000 based on technical charts. Some expect a short-term dip but see it as a buying chance, not the end of the rally. As governments globally continue to warm up to cryptos, with some like the U.S, the U.K, China, El Salvador, and Bhutan racking up more of the asset.
Meanwhile, about 60 publicly traded companies are also buying up large amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as part of their corporate treasuries. Due to these moves, these companies have seen their stock prices skyrocket. The gains come with risks as market analysts claim that a dip in Bitcoin’s value could force these highly leveraged firms to liquidate assets, potentially triggering market-wide shocks.
In African countries like Kenya, regulation efforts for cryptocurrencies are underway as governments concede that digital assets are here to stay. However, many provisions listed in proposed laws to govern the sector remain contentious and somewhat too ambitious to be enforced by the continent’s weak oversight organs.
Bitcoin is also gaining from fears about U.S. debt, with some investors now viewing it as a safe haven like gold.