Bitcoin price surges as crypto market and ethereum push towards record highs

The cryptocurrency market is continuing a rapid rally that has taken ether to its highest ever price and saw bitcoin racing towards records.

It is the latest surge in a month of positive news for cryptocurrencies. Those have been driven by a range of developments within the market, such as an exchange traded fund that was launch last month, as well as concerns from outside including worries about inflation.

Bitcoin was at $66,425 at the time of publication on Monday morning. That was an increase of 8 per cent over the previous 24 hours, and took it close to the $67,016 record it set on 20 October.

Ether had gained 4.5 per cent over the morning, taking it to a record high as it continued to surge.

The market as a whole was up 4.7 per cent, according to tracking website CoinMarketCap. There was a 15 per cent increase in trading volumes over the day, it said.

But those gains did not come to all coins. Some hyped cryptocurrencies – such as Solana and the new Shiba Inu coin – struggled, posting losses over the day.

Most, however, were up. That included Dogecoin, the meme currency that is now worth $38 million, which was up 13 per cent on Monday morning.