Bitcoin scorches past $57,000 as big buyers flock in

LONDON/SINGAPORE, Feb 28 (Reuters): Bitcoin hit a two-year high on Tuesday, on track for its biggest two-day rally this year, on signs large players were buying the cryptocurrency, while smaller rival ether topped $3,200 for the first time since 2022.
Bitcoin has rallied more than 10 per cent in two sessions, helped by Monday's disclosure from crypto investor and software firm MicroStrategy that it had recently purchased about 3,000 bitcoins for an outlay of $155 million.
The original and largest cryptocurrency by market value has also been buoyed recently by the approval of bitcoin-owning exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. On Monday, trading volumes in several of the funds spiked and crypto-linked firms rallied too, in contrast to nervous broader markets.
Bitcoin rose by as much 4.3 per cent to $57,036, its highest since late 2021. It was last up 3.6 per cent at $56,636, while ether rose by as much as 2.7 per cent to $3,273, its highest since April 2022.
"There's only so much supply ... but the demand unleashed by the US spot ETFs seems to be relentless," said Justin d'Anethan, head of partnerships in Asia at Keyrock, a digital asset market maker.