Bitcoin breaks through $71,000 to fresh highs

Bitcoin has broken above the $70,000 mark for the second time in the last few days, first surpassing this milestone on March 8.

Bitcoin’s price reached a high above $70,000 then, followed by a swift pullback to the mid-$68,000 range. Over a few days later, it has rebounded to $71,000, setting all-time highs.

Bitcoin’s latest rally has been spurred by the arrival of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US. These ETFs have acquired an additional 177,000 bitcoins since they launched, on top of the 621,000 that Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust — now an ETF — already had, managing 4% of all bitcoins in circulation.

The amount of bitcoin entering circulation is also set to drop in little over a month's time. The Bitcoin halving is currently estimated for April 19 but that is subject to change. This will see block rewards drop from 12.5 bitcoin per block to 6.25. This will reduce the amount of bitcoin issued by day by around 900 bitcoin, worth around $73 million.

Meanwhile, the largest cryptocurrency, ether (ETH), is trading shy of $4,000 , up 1.2% today at around $3,990. The GM 30 Index , representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, has increased by 1.75% to 154.6 in the past 24 hours.