The bitcoin halving is an event that happens roughly every four years where rewards to miners are cut in halve, effectively limiting supply of the token.
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Bitcoin extended its gains Tuesday, touching a more than two-year high above $57,000.
The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 4.2% at $56,850.10, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it reached $57,445.14, its highest level since December 2021.
“Now that we’re that much closer to retesting bitcoin’s record high, the market is that much more motivated to see the level retested and broken,” said Joel Kruger, Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group.
Bitcoin reached a new 2024 high above $57,000 Tuesday
On Monday bitcoin awoke from a week of sideways trading to jump more than 7% and reach $54,000 for the first time since December 2021.
“Bitcoin’s economics dictate that with the floodgates opened to traditional markets and mainstream adoption underway, the added demand for such a scarce asset should easily translate to a push well beyond the record high from 2021,” he added, referencing the spot bitcoin ETFs that began trading in the U.S. in January. “The fact that this comes at a time when global sentiment is running high and U.S. equities are making record gains is definitely not hurting the cause either.”
Bitcoin is less than 20% off its November 2021 all-time high of $68,982.20.
Other cryptocurrencies trailed bitcoin, after notching big gains with it on Monday. Ether rose just 1%, while the tokens tied to Solana, Cardano, Polygon fell.
Most crypto equities were on pause too, with the exception of Microstrategy, which was trading 7% higher after it disclosed a purchase of about 3,000 bitcoins for $155 million on Monday. Coinbase and CleanSpark added 1%, but other miners were in the red.