Investing.com-- Bitcoin surged to a record high on Sunday evening amid signs of increased whale trading, while crypto markets also cheered MicroStrategy’s addition to the Nasdaq 100.
The world’s biggest cryptocurrency jumped 3.9% to a record high of $105,120.9 by 18:27 ET (23:27 GMT).
On-chain data showed a flurry of major trades by large Bitcoin holders over the weekend. These holders, referred to as whales, were seen moving hundreds of millions of Bitcoin off exchanges and onto private wallets.
X account Whale Alert, which tracks major crypto transactions, showed at least 27,000 Bitcoins, worth a total of $2.8 billion, had been moved off major crypto exchanges such as Bybit and Binance over the weekend.
Such a move points to limited supply of Bitcoin on public exchanges, entailing a higher price for the crypto.
Bitcoin was also buoyed by optimism over MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR)- the world’s biggest corporate holder of the crypto- being added to the Nasdaq 100 index. MicroStrategy- which is largely regarded as a proxy trade for Bitcoin- surged over 400% so far in 2024, with its valuation spike making it eligible for addition to the index.
The stock will be added to the index effective December 23, and could see further gains as exchange-traded funds move to add exposure to the stock.