Bitcoin Hits 2-Year High Ahead of 'Halving', Soars Past $1 Trillion Market Cap
The world's largest cryptocurrency has leaped more than 22% this year and hit a 2-year high, pushing it past a market value of $1 trillion for the first time since 2021. The value has more than tripled to a staggering $52,005 since November 2022, per CNBC TV18. Money flow into Bitcoin has been substantially boosted by the launch of the exchange-traded funds that invest directly in the cryptocurrency and which have made it easier for retail investors to invest in the asset.
However, the cryptocurrency remains down as compared to its all-time high reached in November 2021. Experts are hoping to keep seeing a steady rise in the value of Bitcoin. Part of this optimism is connected to "halving" designed to automatically half the rate of new coins that enter circulation. This is an event that happens every four years and is scheduled to happen this year.
"Every halving has historically resulted in some sort of bullish price action," said Gareth Rhodes, former deputy superintendent at the New York State Department of Financial Services. "Several major platforms & crypto assets have become insolvent and/or lost value. Investments in crypto assets continue to be subject to significant risk," Gary Gensler, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, said on X.
Many experts predict that the price of Bitcoin will continue to rise in the coming year. According to CoinDCX, the BTC will reach a value of $60,000 this year which will become $65,000 in 2025 and $90,000 by 2027. The fact that BTC is limited will have a positive impact on the coin in the long term, mostly because of the halving.
Retail investors are still required to be very cautious about every move of Bitcoin as this year a lot can happen in the world of crypto. In the past, Bitcoin halving events have helped the price of the coin to rise further. Another reason why 2024 can be special for the coin, is because the Bitcoin Whales (large investors) are investing in Bitcoin in large amounts, once again. As per data, Bitcoin whales are holding a range from 1,000-10,000 BTC in their wallets which might soon reflect in the price of Bitcoin.
The impending halving event marks the fourth halving in the history of BTC. It is scheduled to occur in April 2024. At one point, the supply growth rate of Bitcoin had exceeded 10%, but it has now been cut to about 1.75%. This year, it's expected to fall to just 0.85%. The halving event will continue until all the 21 million coins are mined which will happen sometime around 2140. Currently, around 19.6 million BTC coins are circulated in the cryptocurrency market.
While experts are optimistic about the rise, there's no denial in the fact that the market will always be volatile and the asset will always remain risky. Besides, crypto scams are a persistent threat in the digital world. Per reports, crypto investment scams climbed new heights in 2022, causing a total loss of $2.57 billion in the United States alone.
