Bitcoin BTC -1.57% broke past the $60,000 mark on Wednesday, a high not seen since November 2021.

The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization increased by over 6% in the past 24 hours, hitting $60,000 at 8.22 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page. Meanwhile, the GM 30 Index, representing a selection of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, has increased by 2.8% to 125.37 in the past 24 hours.

The price action caused the liquidation of over $100 million in bitcoin positions — with almost $72 million being shorts, according to Coinglass data. Bitcoin's value has appreciated by over 42% since the beginning of February, with the foremost cryptocurrency's dominance now standing at 50.3%, compared to 17.2% for ether.

BlackRock's IBIT records largest daily inflow

According to BitMex Research, Blackrock's iShares bitcoin ETF (IBIT) recorded its largest daily inflow of $520 million on Tuesday, eclipsing Monday's total inflow of $111.8 million.

IBIT’s inflows yesterday were 5% higher than the previous $493.1 million record set on Feb. 13, eclipsing the $519.8 million total net inflows registered on Monday for all U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs combined, according to BitMEX Research data.

The BitMex research added that total net flows into all spot bitcoin ETFs reached a multi-week high yesterday. The total net inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs since their launch on January 11 now total $6.7 billion.

Bitcoin miners accumulating

According to Tuesday's K33 market report, miners have increased their accumulation rate ahead of April's expected halving event. "In the past three months, publicly listed bitcoin miners have kept an estimated 29% of all bitcoin rewards, up substantially from the January-November average of 2.5%," K33 analysts said.

The report added that the increased accumulation rate from bitcoin miners likely stems from two components: increased prices and some miners holding off sales to supplement lower rewards after the halving.

According to K33, bitcoin tends to rally into the halving and then consolidate. "For the previous three halving cycles, bitcoin’s average pre-halving 50-day return sits at a solid 30%. Interestingly, all halvings have been followed by a modest 50-day performance, with bitcoin, on average, seeing a 50-day post-halving return of 3%," the report added.

As of now, the halving is expected to happen on April 20, which means we will be entering the 50-day pre-halving window in a few days time.

Retail enthusiasm increasing

Another supporting factor that may be boosting the price action of bitcoin is the signs of growing retail activity in the cryptocurrency market.

"Coinbase's filings on February 15 revealed that their trading volumes hit their lowest in Q3 of 2023, but since then, there has been a noticeable increase in retail participation. This uptick aligns with the growing interest among retail communities, particularly in areas such as gaming, NFTs, and social platforms, which have garnered increased attention over the past month," Ryze Labs analysts said in an email sent to The Block.

According to the above data, retail activity on Coinbase is increasing. Image: Coinbase.

The analysts supported their comments with data from Coinbase that showed both trading volume and retail activity on the exchange increasing from Q3 to Q4 2023. This uptick in retail activity has reversed a multi-year downtrend.