New Year, New Highs: Bitcoin Breaks $45K for the First Time Since April 2022 (Market Watch)

cryptopotato.com 02 January 2024 11:14, UTC

Analytics

After days and days of sideways trading around $42,000, Bitcoin started the new year with a bang and skyrocketed to nearly $46,000 for the first time since April 2022.

Many altcoins have come along the ride, with $SOL and $AVAX soaring by double digits and the total crypto market cap gaining approximately $100 billion overnight.

$BTC Goes High

After a strong last quarter of 2023, $BTC had calmed during the holidays and remained in a tight range between $42,000 and $43,000 for a week or so. Moreover, the asset slipped below the support line on a few occasions but managed to maintain its positive year ultimately.

Yet, it all changed on Monday evening. After sitting quietly at around $42,500, the cryptocurrency initiated a leg-up that resulted in a surge to $44,000. Tuesday morning brought even more joy for the bulls as $BTC soared to and past $45,000 for the first time in nearly two years, leaving millions of short positions liquidated.

Just hours ago, the asset charted its local peak at $45,900 (on Bitstamp), and the community has prepared for a charge of $46,000 and beyond. Recall that CryptoPotato outlined three reasons why 2024 could be an even better year for Bitcoin.

This resulted in a massive growth for $BTC’s market cap, which is now close to $900 billion on CMC. Bitcoin’s dominance over the alts has also increased to 50.9%.

$SOL, $AVAX See Double-Digit Gains

Although most altcoins have turned green today, many have been outperformed by $BTC. These include ETH (6%), BNB (2.5%), XRP (2.4%), ADA (5%), DOGE (5%), DOT (6%), and MATIC (5%).

Nevertheless, there are also those that have charted more impressive gains than the largest digital asset. Such is the case with Solana and Avalanche. $SOL has resumed its recent bull run and has soared by 13% to $115. $AVAX is up by 11% and trades well above $40.

With most other altcoins charting notable gains over the past day, it’s no wonder that the total crypto market cap has seen a peak of its own at $1.770 trillion on CMC. That means the metric has added approximately $100 billion in a day.