Bitcoin Kicks Off 2024 By Exploding Past $45K Days Ahead Of Possible BTC ETF Approval

Bitcoin (BTC), the world's oldest and largest crypto asset by market capitalization, kicked off 2024 on a high note as it surged above the $45,000 price level late Monday – a first since April 2022 and just days ahead of the potential approval of the highly anticipated crypto investment vehicle, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

BTC climbed to an intra-day high at around 10:30 p.m. ET on Monday, trading above the $45,000 price level for the first time in 21 months, data from CoinMarketCap showed.

The price surge continued early Tuesday morning and the extended rally sent the king of crypto trading as high as $45,883, showing a 7% gain on the day.

The price rally came as no surprise, as BTC price stayed flat over the holiday weekend and then started to surge rapidly Monday from $42,000, recording over 170% over the last year.

One of the possible explanations behind the sudden surge in the value of BTC could be linked to the growing hype surrounding the imminent approval of some spot Bitcoin ETF proposals of several Wall Street giants, which is anticipated to be announced by the SEC this week.

Michael Van de Poppe, founder and CEO of MN Trading, noted that BTC may continue to surge between the $48,000 and $51,000 price levels and find a possible resistance within these levels.

"The year starts of with a new rally of Bitcoin towards the highs. I'm still expecting continuation towards $48-51K and find a potential resistance there," the crypto trader said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Crypto investor Scott Melker shared a Bitcoin chart and said that the king of crypto is "breaking out of the bull pennant after nearly a month of consolidation. The target based on the measured move from the length of the flag is roughly $54,000. Targets rarely hit, anything can happen. But that's what the chart says."

BTC was trading in the green zone at $45,877.38 with a 24-hour trading volume up by 95.91% at 30.68 billion as of 5:59 a.m. ET on Tuesday.

BTC's latest price action represents a 7.71% rise in its value on the day and a 7.54% over the last seven days.

Data from CoinMarketCap shows that Bitcoin's current circulating supply stands at 19.59 million BTC and its market cap is at $898.02 billion.