A regulatory crackdown, a banking collapse, and persistent inflation seemingly would spell trouble for the health of the crypto industry, but Bitcoin, Ether, and other marquee tokens have skyrocketed since the beginning of 2023.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is up 72%, recently crossing the $30,000 threshold. (It has since dipped below $28,500, as inflation and rising interest rates have spooked investors.) Ether, the second largest, is up 62%, blowing past $2,000 after a successful upgrade to Ethereum, the token’s blockchain. And the total market cap for all cryptocurrencies is up to about $1.2 trillion, an increase of approximately 50% since the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap.
