$34 Billion Worth of Bitcoin (BTC) Changes Hands in Epic Price Rally

Bitcoin surpassed $64,000 for the first time in more than two years on Wednesday and is already up almost 45% in 2024. The feeling has been that things might be different this time around.

New U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds are shaking up the market for the lead cryptocurrency, contributing to the bullish price run by drawing more than $7 billion in net inflows in less than two months.

A five-day rally sent Bitcoin to highs of $64,100 on Wednesday, bringing the record high of nearly $69,000 within reach. A looming decrease in Bitcoin supply growth, known as halving, has further fueled the price increase.

At the time of writing, BTC has risen 5.85% in the previous 24 hours to $62,651, after reaching intraday highs of $63675 in early Thursday trading.

Bitcoin’s gain since the start of the year has surpassed stocks, extending a trend begun in 2023. The momentum has attracted traders looking for volatility.

Yetserday, #Bitcoin trade volume hit its highest level since the FTX collapse, topping $34bn 🚀 pic.twitter.com/Wur5JTrK9l

— Kaiko (@KaikoData) February 29, 2024

According to Kaiko, Bitcoin trade volume reached its highest level since the FTX meltdown in Wednesday’s trading session, totaling $34 billion.

Bitcoin network activity, ETF volumes explode

Santiment, an on-chain analytics start-up, revealed a massive increase in Bitcoin’s on-chain transaction volume, circulation and whale transactions as the price rose.

Santiment reported that as Bitcoin surged beyond $64,000, on-chain activity on the Bitcoin network reached levels not seen before 2022. On-chain transaction volume totaled $35.37 billion, with 283,000 unique tokens moving and whale transactions worth more than $1 million reaching 3,661.

Overall trading activity in spot Bitcoin ETFs, including products from BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments, jumped substantially to about $8 billion on Wednesday as Bitcoin surged toward a record.

The funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures has also reached its highest level since 2021, indicating that traders are racing to gamble on gains.

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