Bitcoin (BTC) set a new 2019 high on June 21, hitting $9,800 and firmly beating daily returns of almost all major cryptocurrencies.
Market visualization courtesy of Coin360
Data from Coin360 put BTC/USD trading at around $9,675 at press time Friday after a minor correction from earlier highs.
The performance further cements bitcoin’s bullish progress over the past three months, surprising investors once more after retaking the $9,000 mark this week.
Monthly (30-day) gains for bitcoin investors now stand at 26.5%.
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Previously, commentators had begun forecasting a break to $10,000 would spark considerable demand among prospective buyers, who would then push the bitcoin price higher. They included serial bitcoin bull Tom Lee, who in a note to clients of his Fundstrat Global Advisors said 2019 could see BTC/USD reach as high as $40,000.
“In most markets, a ‘new high’ is needed to confirm a breakout[.] But with (bitcoin), when it trades at a price seen only 3% of its history, this has confirmed a new high imminent. This makes crypto different,” he tweeted Thursday as bitcoin passed $9,750.
“Currently $250 away from FOMO.”
Altcoin markets were slow to react to bitcoin’s latest advances. At press time, ethereum (ETH) had nonetheless managed to beat the largest cryptocurrency’s 24-hour returns, gaining 5.4% to hit $284.
The last time ETH/USD traded at that level was in September 2018, the pair coming full circle in around nine months in a pattern, which closely tracks bitcoin.
Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Other altcoins in the top twenty by market cap fared less impressively. The exceptions were monero (XMR), which put in daily gains of 8% to reach $109, and binance coin (BNB), which rose 7.2% to achieve a new all-time high of $37.18.
The total cryptocurrency market cap now stands at just under $300 billion, its highest since July last year. Of that, bitcoin holds 57.7% market dominance – a new peak since December 2017, which BTC/USD set its historic high around $20,000.
