Bitcoin surpasses $120,000 for first time in history

Bitcoin surged past the $120,000 mark for the first time on Monday, reaching a record high of $123,153.22 before easing to around $122,000 — still up 2.4% for the day.

The rally underscores renewed investor optimism as key U.S. legislative discussions around cryptocurrency regulation get underway this week.

Later today, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to debate a set of bills aimed at establishing a long-awaited regulatory framework for the digital asset industry.

Those efforts have found a vocal ally in U.S. President Donald Trump, who has declared himself the “crypto president” and urged lawmakers to overhaul existing rules in favor of the industry.

“It’s riding a number of tailwinds at the moment,” said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore, pointing to strong institutional demand, bullish momentum, and Trump’s backing as key drivers.
“It’s been a very, very strong move over the past six or seven days and it’s hard to see where it stops now. It looks like it can easily have a look at the $125,000 level,” he added.

Bitcoin is now up roughly 30% since the start of the year, and its rally has fueled gains across the broader crypto market. Ethereum (Ether) jumped to its highest level in over five months at $3,059.60, while XRP and Solana also rose about 3% each.

The total market capitalization of the crypto sector has swelled to approximately $3.81 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.