Bitcoin scorches past $64,000

The leading cryptocurrency has reached a two-year high after several consecutive days of gains

The price of Bitcoin, the world’s highest-valued cryptocurrency, surged past the $64,000 mark at 17:15 GMT on Wednesday, approaching an all-time high reached in November 2021, according to CoinDesk.

The token gave up most of the gains by 20:00 GMT to trade around $60,000.

The digital currency has surged for a fifth consecutive day, supported by inflows into US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs allow more retail investors to hold Bitcoin indirectly via funds that trade on exchanges. The launch of ETFs in early January has helped drive the value of Bitcoin up nearly 40% so far.

According to Reuters, traders are also investing in Bitcoin ahead of the upcoming halving in April, a process designed to slow the release of the cryptocurrency.

The value of all the Bitcoin in circulation has exceeded $2 trillion this month for the first time in two years, according to Reuters, which cited the crypto platform CoinGecko.

Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $68,982.20 in November 2021 before dropping to around $29,000 last July due to uncertainty caused by the criminal charges against Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and amid concern about economic woes in China.

Find more stories on economy and finance in TROIB business