Crypto Assets Rally With BTC Returning to $66K

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context.

Crypto prices rose again on Monday morning in Europe, with bitcoin adding around 1.5% over 24 hours to reach $66,300 and ether advancing 2% to trade at $3,600.

The broader crypto market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), was up about 1% by 08:00 UTC (4:00 AM ET).

Among individual movers, Avalanche’s AVAX enjoyed the biggest gains, rising nearly 3.9%. XRP was up 1.5%, while solana’s SOL gained 1.3%.

SOL, as the closest thing to an ether competitor in the altcoin market, may be experiencing downside as traders anticipate the listing of spot ETH exchange-traded funds in the U.S., an event thought likely sometime in the next few months.

Bitcoin rose over $66,000 on Monday, while ether approached $3,600. Both cryptocurrencies enjoyed a rally during the European morning, with BTC adding around 1.5% over 24 hours to reach $66,300.

The VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC) began trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Monday, making it the first exchange-traded fund to list on the country’s largest stock exchange.

VBTC rose 1% from its opening price to close the day at A$20.06 ($13.4) after trading 99,791 shares. The ETF is a feeder fund that provides exposure to bitcoin by investing in the company’s Bitcoin Trust (HODL), a U.S. ETF listed on Cboe.

Earlier this month, the first Australian spot bitcoin ETF, Monochrome Asset Management’s IBTC, debuted on Cboe Australia, a smaller rival to ASX.

Tokens that claim to be using artificial intelligence (AI) technology surged by as much as 35% in the last 24 hours.

Among major gainers, Fetch.ai’s FET advanced 25%, SingularityNET’s AGIX rose 22% and Ocean Protocol’s OCEAN gained 17%, while the sector added 15% on average.

The gains follow gains in chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) stock, which rose 5% since Monday to make it the world’s most valuable company.

"AI as a sector is hot in both traditional markets and crypto,” Edward Wilson, an analyst at Nansen.ai, told CoinDesk. “It should come as no surprise that on the back of Nvidia becoming the world's most valuable company AI tokens are rallying.”

Chart of the Day: Crypto Prices Rally Again, Lift Bitcoin to Around $66,300