Bitcoin breaks through $49,000 for the first time since December 2021

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. Not only are those outflows waning, inflows are increasing. Additionally, bitcoin caught a bid last week from the stock market, where the S&P 500 passed 5,000 last week.

“Several factors are influencing market dynamics, including China’s adoption of a more relaxed monetary policy, which has led to increased asset purchases, notably in bitcoin and equities,” said James Butterfill, head of research at crypto focused asset manager CoinShares.

“Demand for spot-bitcoin ETFs remains robust, with net inflows of $1.1 billion over the past week and $2.8 billion since their launch,” he added. “On Friday alone, ETFs acquired 12,000 bitcoin, significantly outpacing the daily creation rate of approximately 900 new bitcoins.”

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%.