By
Steve Muchoki
April 19th, 2024
Bitcoin and altcoins climbed over the last 24 hours, with a 6% rise in the king coin, and larger increases in altcoins.
Bitcoin recorded a nearly 6% rise from yesterday, currently trading at nearly $37,600 as of this writing. The king coin’s jump is interesting, considering it fell below $35,000 on Tuesday. At some point during the day, Bitcoin hit $37,725.09.
Altcoins Follow Bitcoin Rise Gaining Double Digits
Bitcoin’s rise spread to altcoins, as ETH has jumped more than 4.%% to $2,065, while BNB and XRP also recorded increases, pulling in 3.92% and 2.98%, respectively. The biggest jumps registered were Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX), currently at 14.54% and 16.6%, respectively, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Earlier, both tokens climbed 18% and 23%, respectively.
Solana has had a good year, recording impressive price gains. The sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, SOL has climbed nearly 45% in the last 5 days and more than 160% in the past month, according to MarketWatch data. Over three months, SOL has returned about 188% to holders. The most impressive jump is the 565.48% spike recorded since January.
Avalanche has also had a similar recent history of gains, albeit with lower figures. MarketWatch data puts gains for AVAX over the last 5 days at 61%, with 1-month increases at 125%. Over the past year, AVAX has returned 56.43% to holders, with year-to-date (YTD) gains at 87%.
There are bullish indications suggesting the bear market is waning, or completely over. Charlie Morris, the founder of investment advisory company ByteTree, said “Bitcoin is going mainstream, and the bear is behind us,” adding that “The good times are here.”
Morris noted that Bitcoin is performing well against other assets, not just the dollar. The ByteTree founder says this is important for institutional adoption because companies only buy alternative assets where there’s some extra return.
Bitcoin ETF Approval and 2024 Halving
Bitcoin has been in the news for many reasons, including its upcoming halving expected next April. In late October, Bitcoin set a new hashrate record at 543 EH/s, scaling the previous record of 525 EH/s. The increased hashrate suggests a healthy network in view of the halving event and the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. SkyBridge Capital Founder and Managing Partner Anthony Scaramucci believes that Bitcoin’s market valuation could be 11x after an approval, jumping from $600 billion to $6 trillion.
Positive news on Bitcoin continues to pour in as the asset’s dominance recently hit its highest level in 30 months. At the end of October, the coin’s dominance hit 54%, a level not seen in two and a half years. Back in 2017, Bitcoin enjoyed dominance around 80%, while ETH swung between 10% and 17%.
Most predictions opine that the SEC will approve a spot Bitcoin ETF soon. Asset manager BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) believes the SEC will greenlight its application by January 2024. Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz shared a similar sentiment, stating that the SEC will approve one by December, with the first ETF launching next year.