Bitcoin breaks above $72K: Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high above $72,000 on Monday, continuing its strong ascent without any signs of deceleration. 

Britain's financial regulatory body announced its endorsement of digital asset trading products, allowing recognised investment exchanges to introduce crypto-backed exchange-traded notes (ETNs).

During European trading, Bitcoin soared by up to 4.8 per cent to reach a historic peak of $72,077, contributing to a year-to-date increase of more than 60%.

The unprecedented rise of the world's most valuable cryptocurrency has been fueled by substantial investments in new spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds and optimism surrounding potential interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

While capital inflows into the ten largest US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds moderated to a two-week low in the week ending March 8, they still amounted to nearly $2 billion, according to data from LSEG.

Nick Cawley, a strategist at DailyFX, noted, "Bitcoin has initiated the week with a surge, buoying the entire cryptocurrency market." Furthermore, the forthcoming halving event in April, which reduces the rate of new supply and mining rewards every four years, is expected to drive Bitcoin's price.

Nevertheless, the demand for cryptocurrency investments is gaining momentum across the investment landscape. Asset managers currently hold the largest bullish position in bitcoin futures on record, according to weekly data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In the week ending March 5, asset managers' net long position surged to 15,531 lots, valued at $5.5 billion based on the prevailing bitcoin price. This surpasses their long position in sterling, valued at $2.78 billion, and their bearish position in the Japanese yen against the dollar, valued at $1.49 billion, according to LSEG data.

Ether also experienced a notable increase, rising by 2.1 per cent to approach $4,000, near its highest level in two years. Speculation regarding the potential approval of spot ether ETF listings by US regulators this year has contributed to a 75 per cent surge in its price since the beginning of the year.

(With Reuters inputs)