reached its highest level in nearly 20 months.

At around 8:30 AM, the world's largest cryptocurrency surged to nearly $40,800 per coin, its highest level since the end of April 2022.

Early this morning, the world's largest cryptocurrency surged to $40,000 per coin. After only about 20 minutes, Bitcoin gained another $100 before quickly retreating. However, it then jumped again to over $40,200. By around 8:30 AM, the price had approached $40,800 per unit, an increase of nearly $1,000 compared to yesterday's closing price.

Bitcoin's market value is currently more than double what it was at the beginning of the year. This is also its highest price since the end of April 2022, almost 20 months ago.

Other cryptocurrencies also followed suit. Ethereum is trading at nearly $2,210, up more than 2%. Most of the other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization also recorded price increases.

The price of the world's largest and oldest cryptocurrency fell below $40,000 in April 2022, but has recovered in recent months. The market's euphoria is largely due to dovish comments from US regulators on cryptocurrencies and hopes that a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) could soon be established.

In addition, investors believe that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) has completed its interest rate hike roadmap and will begin cutting rates early next year. This reason has also driven the sharp rise in high-risk investments and other interest-rate-sensitive assets, such as gold, in the past few weeks.

Furthermore, the more "mature" cryptocurrency market is also a factor contributing to investor optimism. David Marcus, CEO of the online payment platform Lightspark, told CNBC that after moving past the speculative phase, the cryptocurrency market can focus on technology and practical applications, "rather than just being a giant digital casino for people to trade in."

The bullish scenario for 2024 is also being hotly debated as the Bitcoin halving, the event that cuts miner rewards by 50% and occurs every four years, is expected to happen next May. This helps limit the supply of Bitcoin and is often a factor that stimulates a new price surge.

Standard Chartered reiterated its April forecast that Bitcoin would reach $100,000 by the end of 2024. The bank stated that this scenario would be driven by the approval of several ETFs. According to them, several spot ETFs for both Bitcoin and Ethereum will be approved in the first quarter of next year, paving the way for institutional investment.

Xiao Gu (according to CoinDesk , Reuters , CNBC )

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