Bitcoin {{BTC}} crossed the $65,000 mark in European morning hours on Monday, inching closer to its lifetime peak of $69,000 set in November 2021 as the value of bullish bets rose to a record.
The largest cryptocurrency has added over 6% in the past 24 hours, while the CD20, a broad-based liquid index of various tokens, rose 5.6%. Bitcoin is now just 5% away from its record in terms of U.S. dollars. It already crossed peak prices against several major and emerging-market currencies in the past week, and today reached a record high in euro terms as well.
Further gains may be in the offing, signs from the futures market indicate. Open interest, or the number of unsettled futures bets, rose to an all-time high of $27 billion, data from Coinglass show. Rising interest is a sign of new money entering the market. Market capitalization also reached a record $2.8 trillion, crossing the $2.7 level set in November 2021, data from multiple sources show.
Over $60 million in shorts, or bets against, higher bitcoin prices were liquidated in the past 24 hours, likely contributing to the surge in prices as losing positions were covered.
Euphoric sentiment, institutional buying demand and historical gains linked to bitcoin’s halving event are putting the asset on track to cross its lifetime highs of $69,000 in March, some traders previously told CoinDesk.
UPDATE (March 4, 10:35 UTC): Adds outlook as indicated by open interest in headline and third paragraph, euro record in second, short positions liquidated.