Bitcoin pushes past $70,000 in fresh surge for the cryptocurrency

By Steve Goldstein

Bitcoin surged past $70,000 on Monday morning, continuing a remarkable run for the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin (BTCUSD) rose as high as $71,837. There wasn't any fundamental news to drive the latest gains, which started near the end of Asian trading and appeared before the release of key U.S. inflation data on Tuesday.

Investors in the crypto space say the move more broadly has been fueled by the Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of exchange-traded funds based on spot bitcoin, as well as anticipation ahead of the so-called halving event, the roughly once-every-four-year event where the reward for bitcoin mining is cut in half.

Over the last 52 weeks, bitcoin's 246% gain has been topped by Nvidia stock (NVDA), which has surged 281% over the same time period.

Unlike other assets, there is no underlying pool of profits or income to which bitcoin holders have any right.

Bill Ackman, the CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square, over the weekend issued a post on social media, after seeing an article about how bitcoin miners are devouring energy at a record pace. "Bitcoin price rise leads to increased mining and greater energy use, driving up the cost of energy, causing inflation to rise and the dollar to decline, driving demand for Bitcoin and increased mining, driving demand for energy and the cycle continues," he said.

"Maybe I should buy some bitcoin," he concluded.

-Steve Goldstein

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03-11-24 0741ET

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