Rate cut and spot ETF expectations have lit a fire under bitcoin.

Bitcoin surged by 6.6% today, breaking through the $42,000 mark, a level last seen before the Terra crash in May 2022. This represents a complete retracement to the early May 2022 level, marking a remarkable 150% increase since the beginning of the year.

Analysts are speculating that the sharp surge has been triggered by expectations of interest rate cuts in the coming year, as well as the potential approval of spot bitcoin ETFs by the SEC.

The global cryptocurrency market cap rose to $1.62 trillion, a 4.0% increase in the past 24 hours. November’s cryptocurrency exchange trading volume reached over $826 billion, the highest since March. Bitcoin’s daily trading volume hit a yearly high at $32 billion. (CryptoNews)

However, this surge led to significant liquidations, totaling over $216 million, primarily affecting short positions. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and BNB also experienced gains, with ETH rising over 4%, maintaining its position above $2,250, and BNB posting a modest uptick of over 2% at a current price of $234. Solana traded flat around $63.50 in the past 24 hours.

The uptrend in bitcoin had a positive halo effect on stocks such as MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), a permabull corporate investor in bitcoin, and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). While MSTR is up nearly 6% today to $527.68, COIN has surged over 7% to $133.76 in pre-market trading.

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay