Bitcoin soared above $31,000 - what's going on?

Bitcoin coin standing on pile of coins with price chart background

The price of Bitcoin has reached a new high of over $31,000, the highest it has been in almost 13 months.

The crypto exchange EDX Markets' support caused Bitcoin Cash to surge by 80% in the span of one week.

According to the founder of Morgan Creek, the market has entered into a new bull cycle.

The creator of the hedge fund Eclectica Asset Management predicted that the BTC rate could triple in the face of a deteriorating macroeconomic situation.

Bluntz, a Twitter analyst, anticipates that Bitcoin (BTC) will experience a correction in the near future.

On Friday, Bitcoin reached its highest point since early June of last year, hitting around $31,400. Over the course of the week, BTC gained approximately $4,000 (a rise of nearly 15%) due to the official launch of the new EDX Markets crypto exchange and the anticipation of the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Mark Yusko, the founder of Morgan Creek Capital, believes that the recent surge in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is a sign that a new bull cycle has begun, and it will last until the halving in the spring of next year. He believes that BTC will eventually replace gold as a store of value.

Matt Hogan, CEO of Bitwise, declared that the crypto market is entering a prolonged bull cycle as institutional investors start to put money into digital assets.

Pentoshi, a well-known crypto analyst, has suggested that the recent surge in bitcoin's value could potentially continue, with the rate potentially reaching its highest point since May 2022 - $32,500.

Hugh Hendry, the creator of Eclectica Asset Management hedge fund, believes that the rise in interest rates in the world's largest economies will cause macroeconomic conditions to worsen, which could be beneficial for Bitcoin. He believes that, in this context, the price of BTC could potentially triple.

The Matrixport Fear and Greed Index skyrocketed from 10 to 93 in a mere seven days. This is usually a sign that the bitcoin rate has hit a local high. Twitter analyst Bluntz anticipates that BTC will drop to $29,000 in the near future.

Peter Schiff, a well-known cryptocurrency skeptic, warned investors not to get too excited about bitcoin's surge to $31,000, as it is only a short-term phenomenon. According to him, the rise of BTC signals the impending end of the rally of all speculative assets.

JPMorgan, a major investment bank, has announced the commencement of euro-denominated payments processing through its JPM Coin blockchain platform. This blockchain technology enables transfers to be made at any time of the day, and much more quickly.

SAP, a major German software developer, has initiated a trial program for global payments using Circle's USDC and EUROC stablecoins on the Ethereum blockchain.

Volatility Shares is set to introduce the Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITX) futures ETF, which will offer 2x trading leverage as its primary feature. This will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Fabio Panetta, a board member of the European Central Bank (ECB), declared that cryptocurrencies have evolved from being an inventive asset class to a detrimental one, and are only suitable for gambling.

In the past week, Bitcoin Cash (one of the oldest altcoins) has seen an 80% increase in value, largely due to the endorsement of BCH by the newly launched EDX Markets crypto exchange.