Bitcoin Crosses $63K as ETF Volumes Soar and 'Halving' Nears

investopedia.com:

Bitcoin rose above $63,000 for the first time since November 2021 on Wednesday morning, buoyed by a surge in trading activity in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds this week.

Also lifting investor appetite for the token: A reduction in its supply growth, an event known as its «halving,» slated for April.

The largest cryptocurrency has staged a massive comeback since it traded at around $20,000 just under a year ago. Bitcoin (BTC) prices are up around 45% since the beginning of the year and have soared from $42,000 to more than $60,000 in a matter of weeks.

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This latest price increase in the digital asset comes as activity around spot bitcoin ETFs hit levels not seen since these funds—which opened up bitcoin to a whole new swathe of retail investors—started trading in January. The new nine spot bitcoin ETFs, which only excludes the preexisting Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), hit a new all-time high for trading volume on Monday, according to Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas.

Blackrock's (BLK) iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) broke its own trading volume records on both Monday and Tuesday.

In addition to the obvious hype around the spot bitcoin ETFs, a recent report from Grayscale Advisors LLC pointed to the upcoming bitcoin halving event as a key factor driving bitcoin prices. Slated to occur in April, the halving will cut the supply of new bitcoin created per block as well as the rewards for bitcoin miners in half.

With the supply of bitcoin capped at 21 million and more than 19.6 million already in circulation, halving will slow supply—feeding the token's scarcity.

The halving is also likely to affect returns of bitcoin mining stocks, which have recently enjoyed stellar gains.

Bitcoin's rally has