Bitcoin Claims All-Time High in Euros, Takes Aim at U.S. Dollar Record

Bitcoin BTC$96,794.19 crossed the $65,000 mark in European morning hours on Monday, inching closer to its lifetime peak of $69,000 set in November 2021 as the value of bullish bets rose to a record. Now at around €61,000, bitcoin has added the euro to the many local currencies in which it's already moved to a record high.

The largest cryptocurrency has added over 6% in the past 24 hours, while the broad CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), a measure of the biggest cryptocurrencies, rose 5.6%. Bitcoin is now just 5% away from its record in terms of U.S. dollars.

Read more: Bitcoin Is Hitting All-Time Highs Around the World

Further gains may be in the offing, signs from the futures market indicate. Open interest, or the number of unsettled futures bets, rose to an all-time high of $27 billion, data from Coinglass show. Rising interest is a sign of new money entering the market. Market capitalization also reached a record $2.8 trillion, crossing the $2.7 trillion level set in November 2021, data from multiple sources show.

Over $60 million in shorts, or bets against, higher bitcoin prices were liquidated in the past 24 hours, likely contributing to the surge in prices as losing positions were covered.

Euphoric sentiment, institutional buying demand, and historical gains linked to bitcoin’s halving event are putting the asset on track to cross its lifetime highs of $69,000 in March, some traders previously told CoinDesk.

UPDATE (March 4, 12:09 UTC): Corrects market capitalization in third paragraph.

UPDATE (March 4, 10:35 UTC): Adds outlook as indicated by open interest in headline and third paragraph, euro record in second, short positions liquidated.