Bitcoin rises 7.15%, tops $70,000 again

Bitcoin enthusiasts appear to be shrugging off last week’s outflows from US exchange-traded funds, with the largest cryptocurrency climbing back above $70,000 again.

Most digital assets were higher Monday, with Bitcoin gaining as much as 7.1% to $70,816. That’s the first time the token has been above $70,000 in more than a week. Ether was up around 6%, while Solana and Dogecoin were both more than 4% higher.

Almost $900 million was pulled from those ETFs last week, reflecting continual outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as well as a moderation in subscriptions for offerings from BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investment. The group of 10 funds saw one of the worst weeks of the year since they were launched in January.

“Even though ETF inflows have hit a drag, order books are loaded on the bid side around the 60k area, showing that the market is eager to buy the dip,” said Nathanaël Cohen, co-founder at digital-asset hedge fund INDIGO Fund. “You need to go get the liquidity at lower levels to then catch a bid and generate momentum to go higher.”

The new demand from Bitcoin ETFs has been a main driving force behind the historic rally in the largest cryptocurrency this year. Strong inflows into the funds sparked optimism around an exponential growth of the asset class from a wider range of investors. However, the outsized outflows last week triggered more hedges among traders against lower prices as well as significant liquidations in the leveraged bullish bets in the crypto futures market.

Shares of crypto-related companies also jumped. Bitcoin proxy MicroStrategy gained 20%, crypto exchange Coinbase Global increased 9% and miner Marathon Digital rose 5%.