Bitcoin Breaks $63,000 | ETFs See Record Volume

The original cryptocurrency had its best month in three years.

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Nina Bambysheva Staff Writer, Forbes Money & Markets
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Steven Ehrlich Director, Forbes Digital Assets
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BITCOIN’s 40% GAIN CLOSES BEST MONTH SINCE 2020

The largest cryptocurrency drew closer to its all-time high of nearly $70,000, breaking past $63,000 this week. It surged 22% for the week and more than 40% in February, its best monthly performance since December 2020.

Bitcoin-linked spot exchange-traded funds continue to drive the upward momentum with record inflows. On Thursday, BlackRock received $612 million into its vehicle, which crossed $10 billion in assets under management, a day after bitcoin ETFs collectively hit a record of $7.7 billion in trading volume, according to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart.

Morgan Stanley is reportedly looking into adding the spot funds, which began trading in January, to its brokerage platform. The bank is performing due diligence on the products, according to CoinDesk.

The anticipation of the upcoming bitcoin halving event, which reduces the token’s supply and has lifted prices in past cycles, is elevating sentiment. The halving is expected in late April.

BITCOIN’S SURGE COULD BE A BOON FOR ETHER ETFs

With the leading cryptocurrency approaching its record high, the market is buzzing with anticipation for an ETF backed by bitcoin’s little brother ether, the native token associated with the Ethereum blockchain, which is popular with creators of nonfungible tokens and other commercial products. Ether, up about 18% for the week, has a market cap of more than $400 billion, second only to bitcoin’s $1.2 trillion. In May, the SEC will likely pass judgment on nine spot ether ETF applications. But unlike bitcoin’s decision day in early January, which seemed to be a fait accompli, ether’s outlook is far less certain. Read more.

CURRENT PRICE OF TOP 5 COINS (7-Day % Change)

Coin

Price

Percent Change

Bitcoin (BTC)

$62,632

22.7%

Ether (ETH)

$3,443

16.8%

Tether (USDT)

$1.00

0%

Binance Coin (BNB)

$408

8.4%

Solana (SOL)

$131

29%

Sources: Forbes Digital Assets, CoinGecko. Prices as of 4:32 p.m. on March 1, 2024.

WINKLEVOSS’ GEMINI TO RETURN $1.1 BILLION TO CUSTOMERS

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini will return at least $1.1 billion to customers of its defunct lending program Earn and pay a fine of $37 million as part of a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

“Gemini failed to conduct due diligence on an unregulated third party, later accused of massive fraud, harming Earn customers who were suddenly unable to access their assets after Genesis Global Capital experienced a financial meltdown,” said NYDFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris in a statement Wednesday.

Earn, which was offered to Gemini’s customers in partnership with crypto lender Genesis, was halted at the peak of the crypto crash in November 2022. The default caused Genesis to file for bankruptcy and has led to complicated litigation among Genesis, Gemini and Genesis’s parent Digital Currency Group (DCG).

BITFOREX GOES DARK

Offshore crypto exchange BitForex, which up until last week routinely generated as much as $2.5 billion of crypto trading volume daily, went offline last weekend, leaving its self-reported six million users in the dark.

On January 31, Xinyao (Jason) Luo, the exchange’s founder and CEO, announced his departure and said a new leadership team was “poised to take reins” and would “guide BitForex towards even greater horizons.” There were no further announcements about the exchange’s outlook, and its X and Telegram channels have not been updated since February 20. On February 23, a crypto wallet linked to the exchange saw an outflow of $56.5 million…Read more.

ELSEWHERE

Bitcoin Firm MicroStrategy Pops 27% In Two Days As Company’s Crypto Stake Hits $11 Billion

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