Bitcoin Soars to New Record High, Surpassing January Peak

Bitcoin Breaks All-Time High, Surpassing January Record

Bitcoin has surged to a new all-time high on Wednesday, exceeding its previous peak set in January. The price of the leading cryptocurrency experienced a notable increase, driven by a confluence of macroeconomic factors.

Factors Driving the Surge

Several factors contributed to Bitcoin's recent rally: Softer U.S. inflation numbers, a de-escalation in the U.S.-China trade war, and Moody's downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt. This downgrade has particularly highlighted alternative stores of value like Bitcoin, according to Antoni Trenchev, cofounder of crypto exchange Nexo.

"We've entered an alternate universe very different from early April when global macro concerns were at their peak and bitcoin slumped to $74,000," he added. "It's possible a three-month window has opened for risk assets to thrive as a broader agreement between the U.S. and China is thrashed out."

Corporate Momentum and Wall Street Adoption

Bitcoin's price has steadily climbed in May, up 16% so far in the month, driven by corporate momentum and adoption by Wall Street. Cumulative inflows into ETFs tracking the price of bitcoin surpassed $40 billion last week and have seen just two days of outflows in May.

On-Chain Data Insights

On-chain data also suggests lower selling pressure, as indicated by Bitcoin inflows into exchanges and increased liquidity in the crypto market. This increased liquidity is measured by new records of the amount of Tether stablecoin USDT, a gauge of crypto market liquidity, sitting on exchanges, according to CryptoQuant.