Bitcoin Spikes to New Record High Over $61K

The top cryptocurrency by market cap rose to $60,065 in a matter of minutes on Saturday morning.

After a period of drops and consolidation since mid-February, Bitcoin has found its mojo again and soared to new all-time highs.

In a move starting just after 10:00 a.m. UTC Saturday, the top cryptocurrency by market cap crossed $60,000 for the first time and hours later crossed $61,000 to set a new all-time high of $61,556.59, according to the CoinDesk 20. In recent trading, bitcoin was at $61,119.51, up 7.47% in the last 24 hours.
"Institutional investment continues to build momentum with Chinese internet firm Meitu the latest to execute a Bitcoin treasury strategy, " according to Jehan Chu, co-founder and managing partner of Kenetic, a Hong Kong-based trading firm.
"Further, Beeple's $69 milllion NFT record demonstrates the true power of crypto, adding curiosity and fuel to the retail fire. Expect volatility but a landing of $100k levels by Q3," he said.
The move passed the previous all-time record of around $58,330 set on Feb. 21.
Since then bitcoin had seen a retreat to as low as $43,000, amid uncertainty in the traditional markets over stimulus expectations and their positive affects on U.S. bond yields.
Both stocks and cryptocurrencies across the board saw losses and sideways trading in the last several weeks, before rising again in the last 8 days.

The new high comes two days after President Joe Biden signed a massive $1.9 trillion stimulus program into law that is sending checks for $1,400 to U.S. citizens. According to various media accounts, people have started receiving the checks, which could be another factor in bitcoin's rise.

U.S. Treasury yields have climbed back to over 12-month highs in the wake of Biden's fresh stimulus. This time, however, bitcoin is showing resilience – contrary to last week of February when prices fell by 20% amid rising yields.

Bitcoin's quick rise caused the liquidation of over $100 million in short positions in a matter of minutes, according to a tweet from Glassnode co-founder and CTO Rafael Schultze-Kraft.
The move to $61,000 brought bitcoin's market cap to $1.14 trillion – not so far below the $1.385 trillion value of Alphabet (Google), according to CompaniesMarketCap.com.