Bitcoin Surges Above $52,000, Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap

The current price of Bitcoin has exceeded about $52,000 (based on the Upbit exchange), pushing its market capitalization to over $1 trillion.

According to the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) statistics site CoinGecko, at 9:50 AM on the 15th, Bitcoin was traded at $52,361.74, a 5.8% surge from the previous day’s average price on significant exchanges. Ethereum jumped 7.3% to $2,821.07, and Binance Coin increased by 4.0% to $337.12. Solana saw a substantial rise of 6.1% to $118.01, and Ripple was traded at $0.54, a 3.6% increase.

Other notable rises include Ada +7.3%, Avalanche +8.3%, Dogecoin +7.0%, Tron +2.5%, Polkadot +5.3%, Polygon +5.6%, OKB -1.3%, Shiba Inu +4.1%, Litecoin +2.7%, Uniswap +5.0%, Cosmos +1.6%, etc.

The U.S. stock market rebounded just one day after overcoming the Consumer Price Index (CPI) shock. As Charles Evans, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, stated on the 14th (local time), “Long-term inflation indicators are still positive” and “There is no need to be disappointed that January CPI was stronger than expected,” the optimism over the market outstood.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 38,424.27, up 151.52 points (0.40%) from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 Index rose 47.45 points (0.96%) to 5,000.62, and the Nasdaq Composite Index finished at 15,655.6, up 203.55 points (1.30%).

The virtual asset market recorded an overall increase due to the rise in the U.S. stock market, coupled with factors such as the decrease in Bitcoin’s spot ETF outflows and the increase in the stablecoin issuance.

Citing Glassnode’s data, CoinTelegraph explained, “Bitcoin is targeting $55,000 due to a decrease in sells from short-term holders” and “The main factor for Bitcoin’s rise is the increased demand caused by the inflow of funds into Bitcoin’s spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs).”

It added, “This data shows that a rise above $55,000 no longer solely depends on individual investors,” and “As long as long-term holders do not sell, all data points to further increases due to reduced supply.”

The increase in the issuance of stablecoins also greatly influenced Bitcoin’s rise. In South Korea, it is possible to purchase with won, but in other countries, buying Bitcoin after buying stablecoins is common. Therefore, an increase in the market capitalization of stablecoins signifies an expansion of new inflow funds and is also used as a major market indicator.

According to on-chain analysis firm Santiment, the market capitalization of stablecoins has increased by 4.9% so far this year. It analyzed the number of stablecoin wallets holding more than $5 million, which has increased by 2.32% in the last four weeks.

Meanwhile, the investment sentiment index showed a state of “extreme greed.” The “Fear & Greed Index,” a self-calculated index by virtual asset data provider Alternative, showed a state of “extreme greed” at 72, down 2 points from the previous day. This index indicates extreme fear when closer to 0 and extreme optimism when closer to 100. The Fear & Greed Index is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), SNS mentions (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin market cap ratio (10%), and Google search volume (10%).