Bitcoin Hits New High at $72,200, MicroStrategy Buys Additional 12,000 BTC

Bitcoin's surge above $72,000 has propelled its market capitalization to $1.4 trillion, surpassing Silver to become the world's 8th largest asset.

Bitcoin Hits New High at $72,200, MicroStrategy Buys Additional 12,000 BTC

Not content with the $69,990 mark set just 2 days ago, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin, continued its upward trajectory to set a new peak at $72,226 on the evening of March 11, 2024.

While previous attempts to break the old $69,000 highs on March 8 and March 5 resulted in corrections, BTC is currently establishing a solid base around the $71,600 - $71,800 range.

1H chart of BTC/USDT pair on Binance at 07:15 PM on March 11, 2024

With its latest growth, Bitcoin's market cap now stands at $1.4 trillion, pushing BTC into the 8th spot among the world's largest assets, surpassing the $1.3 trillion market cap of the commonly traded Silver.

Currently in 8th position, Bitcoin trails behind major tech giants including Alphabet (Google's stock), Amazon, NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, and Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia's national oil and natural gas company). Gold remains the largest global asset by market capitalization at $14.66 trillion.

Bitcoin's market cap of $1.4 trillion, becoming the 8th largest asset globally, surpassing Silver. Source: CompaniesMarketCap

Amidst Bitcoin's continuous record-setting, MicroStrategy's massive BTC investment portfolio, although already showing a profit of over $7.1 billion, continues to expand with the purchase of 12,000 BTC at an average price of $68,475 between February 26 and March 10, 2024, increasing their holdings from 193,000 BTC to 205,000 BTC (valued at $14.6 billion at current prices).

In a recent interview, CEO Michael Saylor stated there are no plans to sell Bitcoin, emphasizing that "cryptocurrency excels technically compared to Gold, the S&P 500, or real estate."

Bitcoin's upward momentum, as usual, continues to stem from Bitcoin spot ETF funds. During the trading session ending March 8 (U.S. time), these funds recorded an inflow of $223 million, bringing the total accumulated net inflow of Bitcoin ETF products since their launch to $9.59 billion.

Among them, BlackRock's Bitcoin Spot ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), continues to lead the ETF race with an inflow of $336.3 million, significantly higher than the combined inflow of the other 9 ETFs. Not only holding over $10 billion worth of Bitcoin, BlackRock aims to dominate with plans for its Global Allocation Fund - an investment fund managed by the group - to purchase Bitcoin ETF shares.

With a current holding of 198,000 BTC, BlackRock's ETF is closely behind MicroStrategy's 205,000 BTC to become the largest Bitcoin owner globally. Following them are Tesla's two companies, SpaceX (19,794 BTC), owned by billionaire Elon Musk, and Bitcoin mining giant Marathon Digital Holdings (16,930 BTC).

Funds flowing into Bitcoin ETFs. Source: BitMEX Research (09/03/2024)

Bitcoin's consecutive new highs in recent days have also propelled cryptocurrency trading volumes in South Korea to surpass the stock market.

According to local media outlet Naver, on March 10, 2024, trading volumes on South Korean-based crypto exchanges, including Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit, Gopax, and Coinone, reached a record 11.8 trillion Korean won (KRW), equivalent to $9 billion USD at the USD-KRW exchange rate, surpassing the total trading volume on the South Korean stock market (KOSPI) of 11.4 trillion won.

Witnessing the increasing demand for Bitcoin ETF products, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has also swiftly announced plans to accept applications for Bitcoin and ETH Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) in Q2 2024. The exchange is currently urging potential issuers to expedite their ETN crypto listings.

Bitcoin's growth has also lifted the second-largest cryptocurrency by market, Ethereum (ETH), above the $4,000 mark, temporarily setting a new 2024 high at $4,054 in preparation for the impending DenCon upgrade, but still requiring further upward movement to approach the ATH of $4,868.

1H chart of ETH/USDT pair on Binance at 07:15 PM on March 11, 2024