Bitcoin tops $70,000 for 1st time in over 5 weeks

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) — Bitcoin on Monday climbed above the $70,000 level for the first time in more than five weeks.

The last time the world's biggest cryptocurrency stood above that level was on April 12.

The price of Bitcoin topped that at around 3.55 p.m. EDT (1955GMT), while it was trading at roughly $69,800 at 4.16 p.m. EDT for a daily gain of 5.3%, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a digital asset price-tracking website.

Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market cap, was up by a massive 11.7%, reaching $3,440 at that time. Other altcoins saw their daily prices gain as much as 20%.

The value of the cryptocurrency market stood at $2.54 trillion with a 6.23% daily gain, while Bitcoin's share of the crypto market, known as dominance, was at 54.1%, while Ethereum's was at 16.2%.

Bitcoin on May 1 plummeted below the $57,000 level for the first time in more than two months, marking its lowest level since Feb. 27.

The cryptocurrency market experienced a selloff during that period as investors' demand for Bitcoin fell following its halving last month, and Binance's former CEO and co-founder was sentenced to four months in prison.

The most recent rebound in cryptocurrencies came on Monday after US April consumer inflation showed a slowdown on Wednesday from the previous month, boosting investor hopes that the Federal Reserve could start easing interest rates this September.

Moreover, Bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, saw inflows of more than $940 million over the past week, which now amounts to over $13 billion since the start of this year, according to capital market firm CoinShares.