Bitcoin tops $40,000 for the first time, pushing cryptocurrency market value past $1 trillion

Is bitcoin on track to hit $100,000 in 2021? What will happen next is anyone’s guess. At this point, however, bitcoin is on track to break the $40,000 price mark if it continues on the current trajectory.

In the last 12 months alone, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency is up over 380%. As of writing, (11:45. AM New York Time), bitcoin is currently trading at an all-time high of $39,409 at $0.73 trillion in market capitalization.  As of this update, (1:15 p.m.  New York Time), The digital coin hit an all-time high of $40,188 at around 1:15 p.m. ET, just a few hours after blowing past the $39,000 level, according to data from Coin Metrics.

Bitcoin is not the only digital currency enjoying the current rally, other cryptocurrencies also known as “altcoins,” on trending higher. Overall, the entire cryptocurrency market, which is made up of bitcoin and other digital coins like ether and tether, surpassed $1 trillion for the first time as well.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan predicted the long-term bitcoin price target of over $146,000 based on the assumption that the cryptocurrency will grow in popularity as an alternative to gold, according to a report from Bloomberg.

So, what is driving the current rally?

The rally has been attributed to a number of factors, including more buying from institutional investors. Some analysts also believe that the Federal Reserve’s plan to create a Digital Dollar Wallet in 2021 is probably contributing to the recent surge.

1:25 PM Update: We updated the title of this article to reflect the new price of Bitcoin. The original title was, “Cryptocurrency market cap surpasses $1 trillion for the first time as bitcoin approaches $40,000 record high.”