Bitcoin (BTC) has reached its highest level since April 1st, surpassing the $71 threshold, with expectations rising ahead of the anticipated fourth block reward halving on April 19th. The current upward momentum not only supports Bitcoin but also boosts confidence in investments within the Ordinal and BRC-20 ecosystems.
BRC-20 Tokens Surge
The upcoming block reward halving is historically associated with the start of a bull market for Bitcoin and altcoins, effectively reducing the new BTC generation rate by 50%. As the fourth Bitcoin block reward halving approaches around April 19th, investor sentiment is positive, driving prices up. The upward trend particularly benefits the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Investors are flocking to Bitcoin ecosystem altcoins and projects with the expectation of a post-halving rally. These assets are attracting attention for offering the opportunity to invest indirectly in Bitcoin’s potential rise without resorting to futures or leverage. Notably, Ordinal volumes have surpassed those of altcoins like Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL), with assets like NodeMonkes and Pups showing significant performance.
In the last 24 hours, the value of BRC-20 tokens has increased by approximately 6%, led by infrastructure token Multibit (MULTI) and memecoins like pepe (PEPE), alex (ALEX), and pizza (PIZA), which have recorded gains of up to 60%. However, profit-taking behavior among investors caused a 22% drop in the PUPS token associated with Pups Ordinal, following a notable 500% increase over the weekend.
Ordinals represent a way to embed data into the Bitcoin Blockchain through references to digital art in small Bitcoin-based transactions. The introduction of the BRC-20 standard last year has increased tokenization and innovation opportunities within the ecosystem by allowing users to issue transferable tokens directly on the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin’s Rise: Open Interest Surpasses $25 Billion Threshold
According to data from the crypto data and price platform CoinGecko, Bitcoin’s rise of over 4% in the last 24 hours reflects market optimism, while the market value of the top 20 cryptocurrencies, excluding stablecoins, increased by 0.43%.
The fourth block reward halving will reduce mining rewards for miners by 50%, leading to a decrease in new BTC supply. Typically, a block reward halving precedes a bullish trend for Bitcoin. Currently, the block reward of 6.25 BTC will drop to 3.125 BTC after the halving.
Investor interest in Bitcoin is observed to increase before the block reward halving. Particularly, futures markets continue to see record levels of open interest (OI) above $25 billion, indicating an influx of leveraged positions in anticipation of increased price volatility following the halving.
