Bitcoin extends its gains, breaking through the $50,000 level

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Bitcoin jumped above $50,000 Monday, at one point reaching its highest level in more than two years.

The price of the flagship cryptocurrency was last higher by 4% at $50,168.36, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it rose to $50,334.00, its highest level since December 2021. Ether was higher by more than 5.5% at $2,643.80, after rising to $2,638.62 for the first time since Jan. 12.

"$50,000 is a significant milestone for bitcoin after the launch of spot ETFs last month not only failed to elicit a move above this key psychological level but led to a selloff and some deep soul searching about these new bitcoin products," said Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto services firm Nexo.

Bitcoin is coming off its best week since Dec. 8, ending up 10.76% as of Friday.

Positive sentiment has returned to crypto after big outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF suppressed sentiment over the past month. Not only are those outflows waning, but inflows are increasing. Additionally, bitcoin caught a bid last week from the stock market, where the S&P 500 passed 5,000 last week. On Monday, both the broad market S&P and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average hit fresh intraday highs.

"Several factors are influencing market dynamics, including China's adoption of a more relaxed monetary policy, which has led to increased asset purchases, notably in bitcoin and equities," said James Butterfill, head of research at crypto-focused asset manager CoinShares.

"Demand for spot-bitcoin ETFs remains robust, with net inflows of $1.1 billion over the past week and $2.8 billion since their launch," he added. "On Friday alone, ETFs acquired 12,000 bitcoin, significantly outpacing the daily creation rate of