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Decrypt: Bitcoin Price Returns to $69,000 Ahead of 4/20 Halving
Bitcoin is bouncing back from a lull to start April, climbing back up above $69,000 on Thursday as the network’s anticipated halving event is set to take place in a couple weeks.
The price of Bitcoin has jumped by 5% over the last 24 hours to a current price of $69,139, reversing a three-day trend that saw the leading cryptocurrency (by market cap) drop beneath the $70,000 level and nearly touch $65,000 on Tuesday before rising on Thursday.
The Bitcoin halving is the quadrennial network event that cuts the amount of BTC that miners receive as a reward for successfully producing a new block. It’s meant to slow the growth of the circulating supply and curb inflation, and is typically tied to a rising price for the asset. In anticipation of the next halving, which is currently expected to take place on April 20, the price of Bitcoin spiked in March to a new all-time high price of $73,737, jumping several times during the month as it gradually pushed higher and higher. Bitcoin’s long-standing previous all-time high was set in November 2021 around the $69,000 mark.
The estimated date for the halving has bounced around in recent weeks, as the event is pegged to a certain network block, and Bitcoin activity and demand helps determine how quickly the network gets to that point. Currently, it’s expected on April 20 or 4/20, a notable meme number that aligns well with the current price—itself featuring another major meme number.
Bitcoin’s latest rise has unsurprisingly sparked similar action across the market, which is broadly up 4% on the day per data from CoinGecko. Ethereum (ETH) is up nearly 4% to $3,415 today, while Dogecoin (DOGE) has popped 6% to $0.186 and Binance Coin (BNB) is the biggest gainer in the top 10 coins with an 8% jump to $597.
Two of the biggest gainers in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap are also tied to Bitcoin. ORDI, a BRC-20 token minted via the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, is up nearly 15% on the day to a current price above $64, while Bitcoin Cash—forked from Bitcoin—is up about 12% to $644 following its own halving event this week.