Bitcoin's capitalization has surpassed one trillion dollars for the first time since December 2021

The value of all Bitcoin coins in circulation, or the cryptocurrency's market capitalization, rose to more than a trillion dollars yesterday for the first time since the end of 2021, according to CoinMarketCap data, writes CNBC.

The cryptocurrency also breached the $51,000 mark during the day for the first time since December 2021, a move that is part of an upward trend developed by Bitcoin since last December.

This year alone, the cryptocurrency is up more than 20%. Last year, Bitcoin rose more than 150% on the prospect of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, which happened in January of this year, according to CNBC. According to the US publication, Bitcoin's recent surge appears to be fueled by strong demand for ETFs, which saw net inflows of $1.1 billion last week.

ETFs are financial products that track the price movement of a named asset, in this case Bitcoin, allowing investors to gain exposure to that asset without owning it themselves. The actual buying and selling of Bitcoin is up to the ETF provider.

Now, the next event awaited by the market is the so-called "halving" in April, which reduces by 50% the rewards for volunteer Bitcoin miners who use specialized equipment to validate transactions in the blockchain network and create new tokens.

The purpose of the "halving" is to reduce the number of new units of Bitcoin released into the market, which means that the supply decreases. Or, theoretically, a reduced supply and at least a constant demand usually leads to an increase in prices. In the past, after a "halving" Bitcoin reached a new all-time high each time.

After the "halving" on May 11, 2020, the cryptocurrency increased by 688.3% over the next 546 days, reaching a high of $67,549 on November 8, 2021. The previous "halving" on July 9, 2016 was followed by an increase Bitcoin skyrocketed 2,824% to a then-all-time high of $19,065 in mid-December 2017, according to a CNBC article last spring citing CCData.

Bitcoin hit an all-time high of just under $69,000 in November 2021, according to the US publication.