Bitcoin continues rally to surpass $110K for the first time

Bitcoin has topped $110,000 for the first time in a recent rally that has seen it gain 3% over the past day to break through past price highs from earlier this year.

Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time high of $110,788.98 on Coinbase late on May 21, just before 11:30 pm UTC, according to TradingView.

Bitcoin has gained around 3% over the last 24 hours, surpassing its all-time high of $109,458 that it hit earlier in the day, which was the first time it traded above its previously long-held Jan. 20 peak.

The worldโ€™s largest cryptocurrency has now gained 17.5% so far this year and is up 47% since its slump to $75,000 on April 7, triggered by US President Donald Trump enacting sweeping tariffs that tanked global markets.

Bitcoinโ€™s new peak comes as US stock markets were rattled by a weak 20-year bond auction, which sent treasury yields soaring on May 21. The S&P 500 fell 80 points in half an hour while the Nasdaq and Dow Jones mirrored the move, with all US indexes trading down on the day.ย 

Bitcoinโ€™s weekly chart shows it has climbed out of a slump earlier this year. Source: TradingView

Caroline Bowler, CEO of the Australian crypto exchange BTC Markets, said in a note to Cointelegraph that Bitcoinโ€™s new high โ€œreflects a mature interest in digital assets worldwide, not the speculative surge seen in past cycles.โ€

โ€œTodayโ€™s demand is driven by institutional-grade infrastructure and stronger regulatory clarity. Investor sentiment has shifted decisively, reflecting institutional-style allocations,โ€ she added.ย 

According to Google Trends, searches for Bitcoin have been trending down since November and are at lows typical of crypto bear markets, indicating a low retail interest in the cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which tracks market sentiment, was at a score of 72 out of 100 on May 22, indicating โ€œgreed.โ€ The index is down from its 2025 high of 84 on Jan. 22, which came two days after Trumpโ€™s inauguration.

Related: How high can Bitcoin price go?

Edward Carroll, head of global markets and corporate finance at MHC Digital Group, told Cointelegraph in a note that growing demand driving the price higher in the medium-term could push Bitcoin to at least $160,000 by the fourth quarter of this year and $1 million by 2030.

Traderโ€™s leveraged Bitcoin bet tops $1.1B

Meanwhile, leverage trader James Wynnโ€™s Bitcoin long position on the crypto platform Hyperliquidity has become the largest onchain margin trade when it exceeded $1.1 billion amid Bitcoinโ€™s price peak.ย 

The entry point for the 40x leveraged position was $108,065 and it has an unrealized profit of $20 million. It will be liquidated if Bitcoinโ€™s price falls to $103,800.

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