Bitcoin Price Returns to $69,000 Ahead of 4/20 Halving

The price of Bitcoin is on the way back up after a rough start to the month—with less than two weeks until the anticipated halving.

3 min read

Apr 4, 2024

Bitcoin is bouncing back from a lull to start April, climbing back up above $69,000 on Thursday as the network’s anticipated halving event is set to take place in a couple weeks.

The price of Bitcoin has jumped by 5% over the last 24 hours to a current price of $69,139, reversing a three-day trend that saw the leading cryptocurrency (by market cap) drop beneath the $70,000 level and nearly touch $65,000 on Tuesday before rising on Thursday.

The Bitcoin halving is the quadrennial network event that cuts the amount of BTC that miners receive as a reward for successfully producing a new block. It’s meant to slow the growth of the circulating supply and curb inflation, and is typically tied to a rising price for the asset.

In anticipation of the next halving, which is currently expected to take place on April 20, the price of Bitcoin spiked in March to a new all-time high price of $73,737, jumping several times during the month as it gradually pushed higher and higher. Bitcoin’s long-standing previous all-time high was set in November 2021 around the $69,000 mark.

The estimated date for the halving has bounced around in recent weeks, as the event is pegged to a certain network block, and Bitcoin activity and demand helps determine how quickly the network gets to that point. Currently, it’s expected on April 20 or 4/20, a notable meme number that aligns well with the current price—itself featuring another major meme number.

Bitcoin’s latest rise has unsurprisingly sparked similar action across the market, which is broadly up 4% on the day per data from CoinGecko. Ethereum (ETH) is up nearly 4% to $3,415 today, while Dogecoin (DOGE) has popped 6% to $0.186 and Binance Coin (BNB) is the biggest gainer in the top 10 coins with an 8% jump to $597.

Two of the biggest gainers in the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap are also tied to Bitcoin. ORDI, a BRC-20 token minted via the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, is up nearly 15% on the day to a current price above $64, while Bitcoin Cash—forked from Bitcoin—is up about 12% to $644 following its own halving event this week.

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

Get crypto news straight to your inbox--

sign up for the Decrypt Daily below. (It’s free).

Get Email!

'Gladiator II' Director Ridley Scott Says He's 'Trying to Embrace AI'

Ridley Scott is coming around to artificial intelligence, seeing generative AI as a valuable tool rather than a looming threat. The legendary director of "Blade Runner," "Alien," and "Gladiator" shared last week that his views on AI have evolved, largely because of its potential to reduce production costs and open up new creative possibilities like animation. “Now I’m trying to embrace AI,” Scott told the New York Times while promoting his new film, "Gladiator II." Scott’s shifting take on artif...

Rekt Drinks Sellout Shows How Brands Can Leverage Crypto to Launch Products

Rekt Drinks sold out its entire batch of flavored sparkling water—the firm’s first-ever product release—in under 48 hours of launch earlier this month. Ovie Faruq (aka OSF), the co-founder of Rekt Brands, believes this proves that the crypto industry’s track record of building communities also lends itself to selling physical products. “In my opinion, Web3 principles allow you to build a brand and IP in an accelerated fashion, which creates a window of opportunity to do something big,” Faruq tol...

Bitcoin Price Tops $80,000 for First Time as Trump Win Boosts Crypto Market

Bitcoin all-time high? It keeps happening, over and over again the last few days. But this one's an especially notable one, as Bitcoin rose above $80,000 early Sunday for the first time ever. Coinbase data shows that the leading cryptocurrency touched a high mark of $80,137. Even by the past week's standards, Bitcoin really saw a jump overnight, rising from a level just above $77,000 to breach the $80K mark. Bitcoin had been holding onto an all-time high price mark of $73,737 from March, going i...

News

Courses

Deep Dives

Coins

Videos