Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap held firm above the $21,000 heights it last reached in the fall.
BTC was recently trading about $21.190, a more than 1.6% gain over the past 24 hours amid light trading typical of long, holiday weekends. U.S. equity markets were closed in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday honoring the late civil rights leader.
Bitcoin was trading below $17,000 little over a week ago before a rush of favorable economic data, most notably a decline in the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI), catapulted crypto and stock prices prices upward.
Ether was recently approaching $1,600, up roughly 1.5% from Sunday, same time. The second largest crypto in market value has jumped more than 32% this year.
Most other major cryptos spent much of Monday in the green with CRO, the token of exchange Crypto.com recently rising more than 7% and SOL, the token of the Solana blockchain up more than 1.4% to continue its momentum of the last three weeks. FTT, the token of embattled crypto exchange FTX, also added to its recent unlikely gains, rising more than 24% at one point.
The crypto markets’ total capitalization surpassed $1 trillion over the weekend, and investors liquidated almost $500 million in shorts, or bets against higher prices, since Friday to mark the highest such levels since October 2022. Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has hit 45, still in fear territory, but more than six times higher where it stood in June.
As of writing, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) is $21, 289.24 with green indexes turned on. It has a market cap of $410, 473, 771, 936.
