Bitcoin hits new all-time high above $68,000

 Bitcoin and ether hit fresh all-time highs on Tuesday, extending their rally from a day earlier.  Bitcoin’s price at one point rose above $68,000, eclipsing a previous record set in late October.

 The world’s biggest digital currency climbed as high as $68,521 before easing slightly to $67,935.

  It was last up 3% in the past 24 hours as of 4:30 a.m. ET, according to Coin Metrics data.  Ether, the native currency of ethereum’s blockchain, notched a record high of $4,840, surpassing the $4,800 level for the first time ever.

 The token traded about 2% higher in the last 24 hours at a price of $4,814.  These record-breaking moves come amid a wider rally in the crypto market.

 

 So-called “ethereum killers” solana and cardano are up 21% and 16% respectively in the last seven days.

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which launched in October and tracks bitcoin futures contracts pegged to the future price of the cryptocurrency, was up more than 8% on Monday.

While it is difficult to link short-term price movements to any specific event and cryptocurrency price charts are often rife with volatility some analysts think that both bitcoin and ether will continue to trend upward in the weeks ahead.

 In a note sent on Monday, Mikkel Morch, executive director at crypto hedge fund ARK36, said a $70,000 price for bitcoin now “seems imminent.”

  Others have bolder projections for where bitcoin is headed, as JPMorgan recently doubled down on its prediction that bitcoin would ultimately hit $146,000, with a shorter-term price target of $73,000 for this year.