Bitcoin Price: Crypto Hits $45,000 First Time in 2 Years – Markets Insider
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Bitcoin is kicking off 2024 with a strong rally, rising above $45,000 for the first time in nearly two years.
The token jumped more than 5% Monday and climbed further Tuesday to trade at $45,565 as investor bullishness continued to build ahead of regulators’ potential approval of a spot bitcoin ETF. The Securities and Exchange Commission is nearing its January 10 deadline to give the green light for the new products.
Investors are also a few months out from the next bitcoin halving event, which will see the amount of bitcoin rewarded to miners cut in half.
Bitcoin has notched records following the prior three halvings, and the next one is expected around April. The event happens about every four years, and some industry experts have forecast that bitcoin will hit $100,000 shortly after this year’s event.
“Taking a conservative view, if bitcoin stays around $30K until the halving, even a 12-month post-halving increase of 250% — which, again, is conservative relative to previous halvings — would price bitcoin at $105K,” Joe Kelly, the CEO of crypto financial services firm Unchained, wrote in a recent note.
Bitcoin is coming off a banner year, gaining more than 150% in 2023 and helping fuel crypto-linked stocks like MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, and Coinbase to triple-digit returns. On Tuesday, shares of those firms gained 8%, 13.4%, and 2.1%, respectively.
Check out: Personal Finance Insider’s picks for best cryptocurrency exchanges
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