The cryptocurrency market experienced a surge today, with the global market capitalization increasing by 5.8% to reach $2.51 trillion on March 4. This upward movement has led to Bitcoin’s market dominance reaching 53.3% as its market capitalization reached a new all-time high.
Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has rallied by 8.5% and reached an intra-day high of $68,602 on March 4. Other top-cap altcoins such as Ether, Cardano, XRP, and Dogecoin also experienced a rally in their prices.
One of the major factors driving the crypto market today is the new all-time high in Bitcoin’s market capitalization. The rally in Bitcoin’s price to $68,602 on March 4 resulted in its total market value reaching $1.33 trillion. The last time Bitcoin’s market cap reached $1.3 trillion was over two years ago, on November 10, 2021, when it reached $68,990.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization is calculated by multiplying the number of coins in circulation by the current spot price of the coin. At the time of writing, there were 19,644,550 BTC in supply.
The price rally in Bitcoin has been attributed to the upcoming supply halving, which is expected to reduce miner rewards by 50%. There are approximately 6,870 blocks remaining until the halving, which is roughly 48 days away. Additionally, the approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States has contributed to Bitcoin’s price growth as these ETFs continue to attract more capital.
In terms of inflows, crypto products recorded their second-largest weekly inflow of $1.84 billion. This was accompanied by a record $30 billion in trading volume, accounting for 50% of global Bitcoin daily trading volumes on trusted exchanges. Bitcoin accounted for 94% of the inflows, with U.S.-based funds dominating with net inflows totaling $1.88 billion. However, there have been increasing outflows from the incumbent Grayscale Bitcoin ETF, GBTC, with outflows totaling $1.46 billion over the last week.
The crypto market rally has also resulted in a wave of short position liquidations, totaling over $348.2 million in 24 hours. Bitcoin short liquidations accounted for the majority of this amount, with $107.71 million in total shorts wiped out. Ether liquidations totaled $41.92 million.
Despite the losses incurred by short-sellers, the crypto market has seen an increase in open interest, with $3 billion added in the last 24 hours. This indicates increased market activity and investor sentiment. Furthermore, there is optimism surrounding spot ETFs, the upcoming Bitcoin halving, and positive sentiment reflected in the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, which is currently in the “extreme greed” zone.
Overall, the increased institutional capital flows into crypto funds, the potential spot Ether ETF, and the upcoming Bitcoin halving are strong indicators of a bull market. However, readers are advised to conduct their own research and exercise caution when making investment decisions.