1.  Historic Milestone: Bitcoin surged past the $120,000 barrier for the first time ever on Monday, marking a new milestone for the world's largest cryptocurrency.
2.  Catalyst: Signs indicate buying enthusiasm is intensifying as "Crypto Week," previously announced by the U.S. Congress, officially kicks off.

Bitcoin shattered the $120,000 mark for the first time in history on Monday, establishing yet another record high for the world's leading cryptocurrency. Signs suggest buying fervor among crypto investors is being further ignited as "Crypto Week," previewed by the U.S. Congress, begins.

Price data shows Bitcoin was last trading around $122,323.18 during Asian hours on Monday, up approximately 3.72% on the day. A particularly sharp spike occurred around 11:35 a.m. Beijing time, where Bitcoin surged over $1,000 in just ten minutes, decisively breaching the $120,000 psychological barrier. The upward momentum continued unabated thereafter.

Analysts noted that besides the typical excitement surrounding a major round-number breakthrough, the formal commencement of "Crypto Week" appears to have further piqued investor interest.

Back on July 3rd, the U.S. House of Representatives designated the week of July 14th as "Crypto Week." During this period, it plans to review multiple bills, including the Digital Asset Market Transparency Act (Clarity Act), the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and the Guidance and Establishing National Standards for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act). These aim to provide the long-sought national regulatory framework demanded by the digital asset industry.

The most significant bill is arguably the GENIUS Act, which would establish federal rules for stablecoins.

Former President Donald Trump has previously declared himself the "crypto president" and urged policymakers to amend rules favoring the industry. Many crypto investors are consequently betting that the sector will achieve its long-awaited policy victories this week.

"Bitcoin is currently being driven by multiple tailwinds," said Tony Sycamore, Market Analyst at IG.

He cited robust institutional demand, expectations for further gains, and Trump's support as key bullish factors. "Price action over the last six or seven days has been very strong for Bitcoin; it's hard to see where it stops right now. It looks like it could easily reach the $125,000 level."

Although Bitcoin experienced a rapid surge following Trump's election victory in November last year, it had largely traded sideways around the $100,000 level for the past few months. Concerns about Trump's political and economic policies had tempered earlier optimism about his administration's pro-crypto agenda.

However, with other risk assets like U.S. stocks hovering near record highs, Bitcoin has regained its upward trajectory, breaking out decisively to new highs.

"This shift marks a maturing view within the industry towards Bitcoin – no longer just a speculative asset, but a macro hedge and a structurally scarce store of value," said George Mandres, Senior Trader at trading firm XBTO. "Broadly buoyant risk sentiment in equity markets, coupled with massive institutional inflows into spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, has fueled this steady ascent, distinct from the wild volatility of previous bull runs."

Fueling the latest leg higher was also the liquidation of significant cryptocurrency short positions over the weekend. Data from Coinglass shows short sellers suffered heavy losses, with over $1 billion worth of short positions being liquidated.

Looking ahead, Rachael Lucas, Crypto Analyst at BTC Markets, believes that with Bitcoin breaking $120,000, the real test now lies at $125,000. She added that while short-term profit-taking is likely, strong ETF demand continues to power the upward trend.

Nevertheless, some industry professionals remain cautious, with analysts expressing reservations about Bitcoin's ability to sustain these gains.

"In my view, this isn't a macro-driven rally; it's an isolated event," said Nicolai Sondergaard, Research Analyst at Nansen. "However, recent U.S. policy developments, such as expectations for fiscal expansion and further monetary easing, do create an undeniably favorable environment for Bitcoin."

Notably, alongside Bitcoin, the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum(GRAYSCALE ETHEREUM MINI TRUST(ETH.US)) , also touched a five-month high of $3,050.90 today. Ripple (XRP) and Solana both gained over 3%.

According to CoinMarketCap data, the total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency sector has now ballooned to approximately $3.78 trillion. Bitcoin's real-time market cap stands at $2.415 trillion, large enough to surpass Amazon and rank among the top five globally by market cap across all assets – trailing only gold and the top three U.S. stock giants ( Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple).