Bitcoin's (CRYPTO: BTC) rally showed no signs of slowing as the world's largest cryptocurrency surged to a Monday morning high of $122,319.
Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) also posted gains, touching $4,323 over the weekend.
The broader cryptocurrency market mirrored the move, with total capitalization climbing to $4.06 trillion.
What Happened: Bitcoin's push through the $120,000 mark came after a week in which major altcoins paused their advance, leaving the spotlight on the two largest digital assets.
Market data from Coinglass shows $314 million in liquidations over the past day, with short positions accounting for nearly two-thirds of that total.
Ethereum's strength has been underpinned by rising on-chain activity.
Daily transaction volumes on the network are now setting new records, while the number of newly created addresses is approaching highs last seen in May 2021.
The token has climbed 21% in the past week and 45% over the past month, with analysts linking part of the move to recent legislative developments in the United States.
One such development is an executive order signed by president Donald Trump, directing the Department of Labor to create conditions for including cryptocurrencies, private equity, and other alternative assets in 401(k) retirement plans.
The order opens the door to a $12.5 trillion market and has been viewed by market participants as a significant policy tailwind for digital assets.
Also Read: What Happens When A Country Builds Real Banks Around Bitcoin? El Salvador Is About To Show Us
Why It Matters: Institutional demand continues to play a central role in the market's trajectory.
Data from Bitwise shows that corporate treasuries and exchange-traded funds have acquired 371,111 BTC since the start of the year, 3.75 times more than the amount mined in the same period.
Retail buying is also on the rise: Glassnode data shows that wallets holding up to 100 BTC are adding roughly 17,000 BTC a month, outpacing the current monthly issuance of 13,850 BTC.
The supply squeeze is being amplified by a drop in liquidity on over-the-counter trading desks, a development that analysts say could accelerate price moves.
Network fundamentals remain strong, with Bitcoin's mining difficulty rising 1.42% to a record 129.44 trillion and the hash rate hitting an all-time high of 1,031 zettahashes per second.
Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, described Bitcoin's climb above $122,000 as both a symbolic and technical milestone.
"For the media, it is formally important to update the highs, although from a technical point of view, the breakthrough has already been made. The bull's nearest target now looks to be the $135K–$138K area," he said.
Himanshu Maradiya, founder and chairman of CIFDAQ, highlighted the ongoing shift among major U.S. banks toward active involvement in digital assets.
"More than half of the largest U.S. banks are now progressing from observation to active rollout of digital asset services," he said, citing moves into custody, tokenization, and stablecoin projects.
He added that while access is still concentrated among high-net-worth and advisory clients, the infrastructure buildout is accelerating, laying the groundwork for deeper integration of crypto into retirement portfolios and broader capital markets.
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