Bitcoin nears $64,000, experts say it may beat previous high before halving

The surge in traffic on Wednesday triggered trading outages and displays of $0 balances for users of Coinbase, the largest US digital asset exchange

Bitcoin has gained nearly 20 per cent in the last week, owing to increasing interest around its exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the upcoming halving. In 2024 so far, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap has surged around 40 per cent. The token currently dominates the crypto market with a 53 per cent share in the total value, according to CoinMarketCap.

"The positive effects of the ETF launch, institutional investment, which saw a rise in 2023, and the upcoming halving, which is set to affect the demand-supply ratio in favour of Bitcoin's price, have all started adding to the market momentum," said Rajagopal Menon, vice president at WazirX.

"This surge is attributed to the ten spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US registering a new daily record by surpassing the $7.7 billion trading volume as retail investors jump on crypto rally," said Edul Patel, chief executive officer at Mudrex.

He said that BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF traded $3.3 billion on Wednesday, twice as much as its previous volume record.

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On Wednesday, these factors culminated in a wild session, with Bitcoin jumping as much as 13 per cent to $63,968 before it cooled down to just over $61,000. The surge in traffic triggered trading outages and displays of $0 balances for users of Coinbase, the largest US digital asset exchange.

Coinbase announced later in the day that the issue had been resolved.

"Very few customers may still see an inaccurate balance on their account. Our team is working on resolving this display issue for these users," it said in a post on social media platform X.

The anticipation around Bitcoin halving has also led to a surge in the prices of the token. Halving is scheduled to take place in April and will reduce the number of Bitcoins up for trading, leading to a surge in price.

Some experts believe that the optimism may even lead to Bitcoin breaching its all-time high of around $69,000 before halving.

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"It may be possible to see a new all-time high in Bitcoin before halving this year," Shivam Thakral, CEO at BuyUcoin.

On Thursday, Bitcoin was trading at $62,160. "If this momentum continues, it is likely that Bitcoin will beat its previous all-time high soon," Patel added.