Bitcoin exceeded $72,700 yesterday

MADRID (EFE).— Bitcoin, the most used cryptocurrency, surpassed $72,700 yesterday and reached a new all-time high, driven by the entry of large investment funds into the cryptocurrency market and by the next reduction, in April , of the pace of bitcoin creation.

The best-known digital currency touched $72,717.25 at 4:35 p.m., according to Bloomberg data, which is a new record.

Bitcoin, which marked several highs yesterday morning, reached $69,191.9 last Tuesday and surpassed the record in force since November 10, 2021 ($68,991).

Later, on Friday, the cryptocurrency surpassed the $70,000 level and reached $70,085.

Since January 23, when the currency fell to its annual low ($38,509), the cryptocurrency has appreciated nearly 90%.

Analysts attribute the strong rise in bitcoin to the decision of the SEC, the United States stock market supervisor, to authorize the creation of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to the spot price of the cryptocurrency.

The director of Institutional Training at Bit2Me, Javier Pastor, assured that the bitcoin market is in a completely new scenario since ETFs were approved in the United States.

At this time, Pastor highlighted, an average of 4,438 bitcoins are acquired per day, which, at current prices, represents the entry into the market of between 310 and 315 million dollars.

“The madness does not end here,” warned Pastor, who recalled that in April a new “halving” (the halving of the reward obtained by bitcoin “miners”) is planned, which will reduce the pace of creation of this cryptocurrency.

Unlike what happens with currencies issued by central banks, the creation of bitcoins is carried out in a decentralized manner through a process known as “mining”.

Historically, after a halving, the digital currency has appreciated.

Taking into account the lower creation of bitcoins and the strength of demand, Pastor believes that the price can approach $100,000 with the “halving.”

“We can see real explosions of upward prices, also with volatility, because there will be people taking profits. This is just the beginning, since bitcoin is a unique asset that not only large investment funds, but also pension funds and sovereign funds will want to have,” Pastor said.

In his opinion, the cryptocurrency will compete with gold in the coming years and with other assets that are a store of value, such as real estate and public debt, pending what central banks do.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency on the market, exceeds $4,000 this Monday for the first time since the end of 2021, and is approaching its all-time high, reached in November of that year ($4,866.4).

At 4:00 p.m., Ethereum was around $4,041.

Wall StreetTerreno mixto

Wall Street closed the day in mixed territory and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12%.

Indicators

At the end of the session on the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones stood at 38,769.7 points. In the opposite direction, the selective S&P 500 fell 0.11%, to 5,117.9 units, and the Nasdaq index, where technology companies are listed, fell 0.41%, to 16,019.3 integers.

They wait for data

Operators await the consumer and producer price index, which will be published during the day this Tuesday and Thursday, respectively, and which will give clues about the direction of the interest rates set by the Federal Reserve (Fed).