Bitcoin Surges Above $61,000 Amidst Record ETF Trading Volumes

On Wednesday, Bitcoin (BTC) surged above the $61,000 threshold, marking a 8% increase over the past 24 hours and pushing its market capitalization to $1.2 trillion.

This price surge coincided with significant activity in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which collectively saw over $3 billion in trading volumes on Tuesday. This heightened demand was also attributed by some traders to the approaching bitcoin halving event slated for April, seen as a catalyst for a pre-halving rally. Notably, futures bets predicting lower bitcoin prices experienced approximately $25 million in liquidations since the Asian morning hours, as per data from Coinglass, which could have further bolstered the price surge.

In other cryptocurrency markets, major tokens like ether (ETH), Solana’s SOL, and XRP observed gains of up to 3%.

Meanwhile, the fear and greed index, a sentiment gauge tracking the fluctuation in asset movement relative to underlying fundamentals, registered an 82 on Wednesday – indicating extreme greed and marking its highest level in over a year. This index, which ranges from 0 to 100, with 0 representing extreme fear and 100 representing extreme greed, suggests a euphoric market sentiment that typically precedes a correction, according to its developers. Despite this, traders seem undeterred, with some anticipating bitcoin to surpass its previous highs of $69,000 by March.