Bitcoin crossed the $40,000 mark for the first time this year in Asia on Monday, boosted by anticipation of an approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds and bets on US interest rate cuts.
The world's largest cryptocurrency rose more than 5% on Monday to a 19-month high and was trading at $41,608 at 10:00 a.m. ET after briefly topping $42,000 earlier in the day, data showed from Coin Metrics. This is the first time since May 2022 that bitcoin has broken above the $40,000 level, according to LSEG. Bitcoin is up more than 145% since the beginning of the year.
This comes after scandals rocked the market, including the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in November last year. Last month, FTX founder Bankman-Fried was found guilty of seven criminal charges brought against him related to the collapse of his crypto empire.
“Now that $40,000 has been revised for the first time in almost 19 months, $48,000 and $52,000 seem to be the next important lines in the sand,” said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of digital asset firm Nexo.
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