U.S. crypto-related stocks looked set to start the week on a positive note after bitcoin (BTC) climbed through $72,000 for the first time since mid-March as its reward halving draws closer. Coinbase (COIN), the only U.S. traded crypto exchange, gained 4.9% in pre-market trading, MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, rose 10% and BlackRock’s bitcoin exchange-traded fund (IBIT), added around 6.5%. Bitcoin advanced 4.4% over 24 hours while the CoinDesk 20 Index, a measure of the broader crypto market, rose 4.1%. Other tokens rising on Monday included meme coins dogwifhat, which gained 18%, and pepe, which rose 10%. According to trader Michaël van de Poppe, there is still a lot of momentum to be gained for altcoins as bitcoin dominance continues to peak pre-halving. “They [altcoins] are super undervalued,” van de Poppe said in a post on X.

Bitcoin could soon rally to new record highs after breaking through a so-called triangle resistance, according to technical analysis by 10x Research. On its way to $72,000, BTC passed through a triangular consolidation pattern identified by a resistance line connecting March 15 and March 27 highs and a support line connecting March 20 and April 3 lows. "If the breakout is bullish, which we suspect, bitcoin could climb above 80,000 during the next few weeks – if not earlier. Buying at $69,280 and setting a stop loss at $65,000 appears appropriate," Markus Thielen, founder of 10X Research, said in a note sent to clients early Monday.

BlackRock (BLK) added five authorized participants (APs) to the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), bringing the total number to nine as the exchange-traded fund continues to attract billions of dollars from investors. The new APs include Wall Street banking giants Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, Citigroup and UBS alongside clearing house ABN AMRO, according to a prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They join Jane Street Capital, JPMorgan, Masquarie and Virtu Americas. CoinDesk reported in January that Goldman Sachs was looking to play a key role for the bitcoin ETFs and was in talks with issuers about becoming an AP.

Bitcoin's fourth mining-reward halving is due on April 20, when the blockchain's code will reduce the per-block bitcoin (BTC) issuance to 3.125 BTC from 6.25 BTC.

In the run-up, implied volatility (IV) on the largest cryptocurrency by market value has ticked higher, suggesting increased price turbulence in the days surrounding the quadrennial event. Still, one observer does not favor placing bullish bets on volatility.

"From a qualitative perspective, I continue to believe paying a volatility premium for a highly predictable outcome (the BTC halving) isn't worth a volatility event premium," Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, said in a newsletter on Monday.

- Omkar Godbole