The cryptocurrency market was booming on the first day of the new year, with Bitcoin surpassing the $45,000 level – the first time in the past 20 months. The price rise came as the market braced for the possibility of the US Securities Commission approving a bitcoin spot trading fund (ETF) any moment now.
Bitcoin's price rose rapidly from the $42,000 level on January 1, jumping more than 7% in the past 24 hours to $45,373. The OG cryptocurrency's market cap now stands at 887.77 billion – up more than 7% in the past day. Trading volume during the past 24 hours increased by 54.54%, reaching $25.88 billion. The value of the leading cryptocurrency has risen more than 170% year-to-date.
Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum has risen by approximately 5% in the past 24 hours. It last traded at $2,382, a 4.86% rise from yesterday's closing price. 24-hour trading volume also saw a 21% rise to $8.52 billion, with Ethereum's total market value reaching approximately $286.2 billion.
Other major tokens, such as Tether (USDT) and Binance Coin (BNB), were in the green, as of writing, rising 0.02% each over the past 24 hours. At press time, Tether was priced at $1 while BNB was at $318.
The rise in Bitcoin prices on January 1 also led to a rise in the prices of other altcoins. Solana (SOL) price rose 0.24% to $111.49 in the last 24 hours, while XRP rose 0.07% to $0.634. However, Cardano (ADA) price fell by 0.10% to $0.629 in the past day.
Bitcoin's phenomenal 24-hour performance combined with marginal gains recorded by other major tokens has seen the global cryptocurrency market capitalization rise to $1.74 trillion, up 5.64% in the past 24 hours.
Top crypto for today
Pepe coin rises by more than 10%
Meme coin PEPE has been among the biggest gainers in the past day, with PEPE price at 0.0000000001773 at press time. The altcoin is up more than 10% in the last 24 hours and has risen in value by more than in the last seven days. 24-hour trading volume rose by a whopping 1,345% to $1,656.
Shiba Inu up about 5%
The OG meme coin also performed well over the past 24 hours, rising more than 5% to $0.00001082. The price rise was reflected in the altcoin's market cap, which grew by more than 5.4% to nearly $6.38 billion. Meanwhile, 24-hour trading volume reached $114.02 million, up more than 29%.
The SEI price jumps by about $30
The price rise in the SEI token has surpassed market heavyweight tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana in the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, SEI is at $0.755, up more than 30% in the past day.
