Bitcoin Hits $40,000 for First Time Since April 2022

Bitcoin’s recent rebound continued apace over the weekend, with the price of the leading cryptocurrency passing $40,000 on Sunday afternoon per data from CoinGecko.

It’s the first time that the price of Bitcoin has been that high since April 2022, right before the broader cryptocurrency market plunged. Bitcoin’s near 20-month peak represents a 15% climb over the past 30 days, with the price of the coin more than doubling since this time last year.

The rising price appears to reflect continued optimism and excitement over the anticipated approval of a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. Numerous companies have filed applications to operate them, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently been meeting with some of the firms.

Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency to rise over the weekend. Ethereum is trading above $2,200 today for the first time since May 2022. Both coins are only up about 2% over the past 24 hours, but they’ve been gradually gaining of late.

Many popular NFT projects have also seen rising price points this weekend, with the cheapest listed asset in popular projects like Pudgy Penguins, DeGods, and Azuki seeing double-digit percentage gains over the past 24 hours, per NFT Price Floor.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.