Bitcoin tops $68,000 as it nears 2021 all-time high

Bitcoin jumped to start the week, edging even closer to its all-time high after the rally took a breather over the weekend.  The flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 9% at $68,635.20.  At one point, it rose to as much as $68,848.62, its highest level since November 2021, the last time it reached a record.  Ether advanced more than 5% to $3,650.59.  Both coins are coming off their best week in almost a year.  Bitcoin gained about 21% and ether 16%,  but paused their run over the weekend as the market digested two days of steep outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) that were offset by inflows into other “newborn” bitcoin exchange-traded funds.  With the birth of these nine new ETFs the big moves now tend to take place during the normal trading week rather than the weekends.  What we’re seeing might well be a rerun of early last week when bitcoin surged $10,000 in the space of a couple of days.  We’re in that sort of environment when a day or two of sideways consolidation can precede explosive price action thanks to the voracious demand of these new spot ETFs.  Some analysts have suggested that while bitcoin could keep rising in the short term, it may cool in the next few weeks, as unrealized profit margins approach extreme levels.  March could be a month of sideways grinding for bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency is benefiting from an AI and blockchain technology-driven productivity boom that many expect to stay around and stay strong.  Long-term investors are confident that the combination of increasing demand for bitcoin through the new U.S. ETFs and a tighter supply expected after the April halving event will push the price of bitcoin to a new all-time high.