Bitcoin has reached the $50,000 mark for the first time in over two years, bolstered by expectations of rate cuts later in 2024.

So far this year, the world’s largest crypto has increased 16.3%, on Monday reaching its highest since 27th December 2021, Reuters reports. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price stands at $50,114.

“$50,000 is a significant milestone for Bitcoin after the launch of spot ETFs last month not only failed to elicit a move above this key psychological level but led to a 20% sell-off,” according to Antoni Trenchev, co-founder of crypto lending platform Nexo.

In addition, the price of Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency rose 4.12% to $2,607.57.

Global stock indexes also moved up on Monday as traders looked for signals as to when the Federal Reserve may start easing rates. Analysts predict May could be the likely starting point for the US central bank’s easing to get underway.

Furthermore, the principal driver behind Bitcoin’s latest price rise “can be attributed to the increased inflow into BTC spot ETFs,” stated Fineqia International research analyst, Matteo Greco.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light to the first US spot Bitcoin ETFs on 10th January, which was viewed as a “form of official legitimacy for the first time,” reports Sky News, in spite of the scepticism over the lack of broader regulation and oversight within the sector.

There are also seven applications pending approval by the SEC for spot Ether ETFs, with a final decision expected to be announced on several proposals by May.

Moreover, investors are also focused on the upcoming Bitcoin halving event that is due to take place in April. This process is aimed at slowing down the release of Bitcoin, which has a capped supply of 21 million tokens, with 19 million already having been created.

The world’s largest crypto rallied on the prior three halvings, the last one being in 2020.

“With [the] fourth Bitcoin halving, a first Fed interest rate cut and potential Ethereum spot ETF approval, all are significant for what is the smallest, youngest and most retail-dominated asset class,” said Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro.