People walk past a neon sign advertising a Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto currency exchange in Warsaw, Poland on 19 May, 2024.
Jaap Arriens | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Bitcoin is a stone’s throw from its all-time high after an overnight rally that also propelled ether to levels not seen since 2021.
The price of bitcoin was last higher by 1% at $119,782, according to Coin Metrics. Ether was down about 1.6% at $4,181, after surging on Sunday to its highest level since December 2021. On Friday, it broke $4,000 for the first time since December.
The moves took place alongside a rise in U.S. equity futures earlier in the morning, as investors looked ahead to a batch of key inflation reports. Stocks are also trading on the cusp of all-time highs.
Shares of Coinbase gained more than 5%, Circle added 3% and Galaxy Digital jumped 8%. Bitcoin proxy Strategy advanced more than 4%, and several miners saw gains of more than 3%, including Mara Holdings, Riot Platforms and Iren.
Given how hot cryptocurrencies and stocks ran in the second quarter, many investors expected a healthy and strategic cooldown in August, which has historically proven a weak trading month for trading including in the crypto market.
The crypto surge has been largely fueled by buying during Asia’s trading hours, driven by the rapid expansion of U.S. debt, according to Markus Thielen, CEO of 10x Research. He noted that bitcoin’s breakout of its “consolidation” in early July coincided with President Donald Trump signing of the Big Beautiful Bill, which included a $5 trillion debt ceiling increase.
“Bitcoin’s breakout isn’t random, it’s being fueled by the fastest U.S. debt expansion in history and that momentum isn’t slowing down,” he said. “Whether the economy stays strong or dips into recession, the flood of new debt is a tailwind for hard assets like bitcoin and gold.”
“The next major resistance level at $133,000 is now in sight, with positioning and market structure favoring the bulls,” he added.
Meanwhile, stocks tied to the price of ether rallied, as inflows into the new crop of treasury companies that’s emerged recently have pushed the price of the second largest cryptocurrency above $4,000 – historically a challenging level for investors psychologically and technically.
Shares of Bitmine Immersion Technologies surged 25% — after closing up almost the same amount Friday — while SharpLink Gaming gained 11%. Last week, ether ETFs saw greater inflows ($326.83 million) than bitcoin ETFs ($246.75 million), according to SoSoValue.
Bitcoin is just about 3% off its July 14 all-time high. Ether is still off its November 2021 record by 14%.