Bitcoin Shines, Dogecoin Sparkles, Dogwifhat Skyrockets: The Week In Retrospect

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) led the way in a big week for cryptocurrencies, which saw the highest-ever monthly gain for the king of crypto.

What Happened: The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies stands at $2.33 trillion, over 17% up from last Sunday's $1.98 trillion per CoinMarketCap data.

Bitcoin's weekly gain tallied to 19.5% while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) rose by 12.4%. 

Memecoins were the strongest vertical, with an astonishing 94% increase in market capitalization per CoinGecko data.

As covered in the Benzinga memecoin mashup, Dogwifhat (CRYPTO: WIF) was the standout performer, with a 400% weekly surge. Established memecoins like Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) also gained significantly, up 57% and 122%, respectively. 

Fundamental developments were dominated by the record inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) dominated flows, recording its two biggest trading volume days thus far, which brought its bitcoin holdings to over $7 billion.

Price predictions for Bitcoin continue to target significant six-figure valuations. Edward Snowden predicted that a national government will disclose having purchased Bitcoin by the end of the year. Republican senators introduced a bill that is to ban the introduction of CBDCs.

Elsewhere, Dogecoin recorded its first-ever use as a means of transaction for a property sale.

Top Gainers (24 Hours)

Bitcoin dominance stands at 49.9%, down from last week's 51.2%. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index is firmly in the "Extreme Greed" zone at 86.

Read Also: RFK Jr. Blames Big Banks For Turning Congressmembers Against Bitcoin: 'We Need To Make Sure That People ... Have Transactional Freedom'

What Happened In Traditional Finance: The Nasdaq 100 gained 2.04% on the week to trade at $18.302. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.11%, closing at 39,087.39. The S&P 500 is up 0.95% at $5,137.07. 

In further news, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) sank on news that Goldman Sachs removed Apple from its Conviction List of top stocks. 

Ross Gerber, the president and CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management and a Tesla Inc bull and investor, is optimistic about the future of electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN). 

Meanwhile, Bill Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, is optimistic about Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), the parent company of Google.

What's Next: Crypto traders and analysts continue to be bullish on Bitcoin, predicting a cycle top only towards the latter end of 2025:

CryptoSlate Lead Analyst James van Straten sees Bitcoin at "a third of the FOMO" it recorded in 2021. He concluded there is no reason why Bitcoin cannot go to $100,000 if ETF inflows remain strong and there is "a similar retail FOMO."

With memecoins recording exponential gains, it remains to be seen if this marks a local top or if the remarkable crypto surge leads Dogecoin and others higher.

Read Next: Pepe Coin Will Outperform Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Floki, Expert Says: They Will 'Bleed Against Pepe'

Image created with artificial intelligence using Midjourney.