Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Bitcoin climbed above $49,000 Monday, at one point reaching its highest level in more than two years.
The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 3% at $49,692.10, according to Coin Metrics, a level it hasn’t seen since December 2021.
Bitcoin is coming off its best week since Dec. 8, ending up 10.76% as of Friday.
Positive sentiment has returned to crypto after big outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF suppressed sentiment over the past month. Additionally, bitcoin caught a bid last week from the stock market, where the S&P 500 passed 5,000 last week.
Bitcoin nears $50,000
Investors have been eyeing roughly $48,600 as a key resistance level. If bitcoin can break through that level and maintain it, the door could be open for it to reach new highs past $50,000 and perhaps even a new all-time high around the $69,000 level, chart analysts say.
The climb pulled crypto equities higher. Crypto exchange Coinbase gained more than 5% while bitcoin proxy Microstrategy advanced nearly 10%. Several mining stocks were up double digits. The two biggest miners, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, rose 11% and 14%, respectively. CleanSpark surged 16% and Iris Energy rose about 18%.