Bitcoin led a major rally for cryptocurrency prices and related stocks Tuesday as it bolted above $57,000 for the first time since November 2021. Meanwhile, crypto exchange Coinbase on Monday surged past a buy point.
Bitcoin Tuesday morning traded above $57,000 after briefly touching $57,430 — running further up against its late 2021 levels. The world's largest cryptocurrency jumped nearly 11% over the last 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. In addition, mid-February bitcoin's market capitalization crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time in more than two years. Bitcoin is now up 34% so far this year, with most of the gains coming after the spot bitcoin ETF launches in early January.
Meanwhile, other trends are set to drive bitcoin in 2024, including the upcoming halving event in April.
Ethereum surged about 6.8% in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning, trading around $3,280. That's its best level since April 2022. ETH peaked at $3,289 in early Tuesday trade. The No. 2 crypto spiked almost 44% in 2024.
Bitcoin ETF Action
Shares of the new spot bitcoin ETFs swung about 4.5% higher early Tuesday as bitcoin continued climbing.
Excluding Grayscale and Hashdex, the new spot bitcoin ETFs saw a record $2.4 billion in trade volume on Monday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reported. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust led the pack, accounting for $1.3 billion of the volume, and breaking its previous record by about 30%.
"Not totally sure (the) reason besides price rally generating interest but it does seem like these things really see heightened action on the first day after (the weekend)," Balchunas posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust has been the clear leader in fund inflows since the spot bitcoin ETFs launched Jan. 11 with roughly $6.02 billion in inflows as of end of day Feb. 26, according to BitMEX Research data. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ranks second at $4.23 billion in inflows. The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ranks third at $1.53 billion, followed by the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF with about $1.09 billion in inflows.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has recorded nearly $7.47 billion in outflows as of Feb. 26, which have steadily slowed. Still, Grayscale remains the leader in terms of assets, with $24.19 billion in assets under management, followed by iShares Bitcoin Trust at $7.21 billion.
Despite GBTC's outflows, the new ETFs have recorded $6.03 billion in inflows since launch, according to BitMEX Research.
Crypto Stocks, Coinbase Breaks Out
Coinbase was the IBD Stock Of The Day for Monday as shares sprinted past a buy point after breaking a recent downtrend. COIN stock rallied about 16.9% Monday to close at 193.94. Shares moved back above a prior 187.39 cup-base buy point. Investors could have jumped into COIN as it broke the downtrend of a high handle formation. Traders also could use the Feb. 16 high handle peak of 193.64 as an entry or add-on buy point, but it's already significantly extended from the 50-day line.
COIN stock jumped another 4.8% Tuesday. As of Tuesday morning, shares are up more than 25% following Coinbase's blowout Q4 earnings report from Feb. 15. COIN stock is up 11.5% this year.
Coinbase is also serving as the cryptocurrency custodian for a majority of newly launched spot bitcoin ETFs following the FTC's Jan. 11 approval for those funds.
Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital rose 4% Tuesday after spiking nearly 11% premarket. Shares vaulted 21.7% Monday. MARA stock rallied more than 24% in 2024 through Monday's close.
HUT 8 pared its gains to 3% early Tuesday and advanced 17.9% Monday. Shares are down 30.88% in 2024 following the late November merger of equals between Hut 8 Mining and U.S. Bitcoin Corp.
CleanSpark Tuesday morning surged 5.5% after spiking 23.9% Monday. CLSK shares rallied 84.5% so far this year.
You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison
