Bitcoin (CRYPTOCAP:BTC) today set a new all-time high price above $69,000, as investors and traders rush back into the cryptocurrency market.
The digital asset surged to about $69,324.58, according to price data on Coinbase. That's a 4% 24-hour rise. Over the past 30 days, the asset has soared by more than 58%. Its previous all-time high of $69,044 was set on November 2021, over two years ago.
Since the start of 2023, CRYPTOCAP:BTC is up by more than 300%. Prior to that, and following a brutal bear market, it was trading for less than $17,000 per coin.
The most significant catalyst is the approval and successful launch of 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs. After a decade of denials from the SEC, the tide turned in June of last year when BlackRock—the world's largest asset manager—submitted its own application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
The renewed interest from big investors and other major Wall Street firms that followed kickstarted a bullish Bitcoin rally, and the asset began to climb back up the price charts.
By the end of the year, Bitcoin (CRYPTOCAP:BTC) was trading comfortably above $42,000.
When the Securities and Exchange Commission finally approved Bitcoin ETFs in January, the price of Bitcoin got a modest bump, but then dipped as crypto traders appeared to "sell the news" and took their profits. Since late January, however, the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTOCAP:BTC) has skyrocketed as interest in ETF products increased and retail investors came back into the fold.