Bitcoin Just Hit $44K: What's Going On?

Bitcoin BTC/USD just hit its highest level in 20 months. Here's a look at what's going on.

What To Know: Bitcoin crossed the $40,000 level over the weekend and has continued to trend higher to start the week. It briefly crossed above $44,000 Tuesday afternoon, marking its highest level since April 2022. Bitcoin is now up more than 4% over a 24-hour period and nearly 15% over the last week.

The momentum in Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies has largely been driven by increased institutional interest on the back of continued optimism surrounding a potential spot ETF. Several major U.S. financial firms recently made changes to their pending applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs and analysts continue to expect the SEC to approve a spot ETF in the coming months.

Expectations for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve in 2024 could also be fueling some of the crypto rally. Fed chair Jerome Powell said on Friday that it’s too early to talk about cutting interest rates, but he acknowledged that he's forecasting a slowdown in spending, which gave rise to expectations that the Fed is probably done hiking rates.

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$BTC Price Action: Bitcoin was up 4.39% over a 24-hour period at $43,822 at the time of writing, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Eivind Pedersen from Pixabay.