Bitcoin Surges 4% and Nears $45,000—Erasing Mid-January Losses

Bitcoin has jumped over 4% in the past 24 hours, nearing the $45,000 mark for the first time since mid-January.

According to data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin is trading at around $44,800, up 4.6% on the day and 6.3% on the week.

The price move brings Bitcoin close to the $45,000 mark, a level it hasn’t attained since shortly after the historic approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Shortly after the ETFs began trading, investors holding shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) took advantage of its conversion into an ETF to redeem their holdings, putting sell pressure on Bitcoin that’s continued through January and February.

As for today’s price move, it follows reports that the Fed would likely not lower interest rates in March, in line with market expectations.

With Boston Fed President Susan Collins pointing to cuts “later this year,” echoing the view of Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, volatility appears to have entered the crypto space and hints of future rate cuts boost investors’ appetite for risk. Accordingly, 24-hour trading volume for Bitcoin has risen by over 53%, to nearly $26 billion.

The broader crypto market is also trading up, with the market cap of all cryptocurrencies rising by over 3% to $1.79 trillion. Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Cardano and Solana have led gains in the past 24 hours, with Cardano up 11.5% to $0.534 and Solana rising by 7.4% to $101.82.

Meanwhile, Dymension’s newly launched DYM token has risen 16.5% in the past day. At the time of writing, it’s trading for $6.79. That’s nearly double the $3.95 initial price it was initially trading for on Tuesday, according to CoinGecko.

The token has now reached a $6.8 billion fully diluted valuation, having added another $1 billion since this time yesterday, according to CoinGecko data. Some of the concerns about one validator on the network, Big Brain Staking, have been put to rest since Wednesday.

Turns out Big Brain Staking is linked to Big Brain Holdings, a venture capital firm that’s backed Dymension. One of its partners said on Twitter yesterday that they’re working on redistributing a portion of the DYM tokens staked with them and would have given them an outsized voice in governance.

“We have delegated our stake all over the place,” Big Brain Holdings Partner Kasey (who goes by one name). “In the next couple of weeks the rest of the foundation and other investors will have theirs staked as well and it will be completely balanced out.”

Edited by Stacy Elliott.