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, as investors looked ahead to a batch of key inflation reports. The stock market is also trading on the cusp of all-time highs.
Shares of Coinbase gained more than 3% in premarket trading. Galaxy Digital rose 3%, bitcoin proxy Strategy advanced more than 2%, and several miners saw gains of more than 3%, including Mara Holdings, Riot Platforms and Iren.
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 were up about 11%, while SharpLink Gaming gained 3%. Last week, ether ETFs saw greater inflows ($326.83 million) than bitcoin ETFs ($246.75 million), according to SoSoValue.
