RIYADH: Major cryptocurrencies once again rose on Monday hitting their highest levels in three weeks. The digital coins are also gaining confidence as mainstream investors are increasingly jumping on board pushing the global cryptocurrency market to more than $3 trillion, said CoinGecko, which tracks prices of more than 10,000 cryptocurrencies. The value has reached $3.007 trillion, it said. Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, hit a record-high $66,000 last month after taking another step toward mainstream status. It surged back above $66,000 on Monday close to its all-time peak after a 5 percent jump. Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency by market value, hit a record high $4,768 on Monday. “While relatively steep and sudden, the BTC price surge is just a confirmation of an incredibly strong market setup that has been developing throughout October. Importantly, the uptick does not seem to be leverage-driven but rather results from the increased demand on the spot market where there is currently very little sell-side liquidity,” Mikkel Morch, executive director and risk management at crypto/digital assets hedge fund ARK36 said. Meanwhile, Global investment bank JPMorgan has doubled its long-term bitcoin price forecast of $146,000, with a short-term price target of $73,000 for 2022. The bank’s analyst explained that the price of the cryptocurrency could reach this level if its volatility subsides and institutional investors start investing more in bitcoin than gold in their portfolios. Martha Reyes, head of research at BEQUANT said: “After losing ground to altcoins such as Solana last week, the incumbents BTC and ETH came roaring back to life late Sunday. ETH is once again at all-time highs while Bitcoin was also flirting with the 67,000 level. Positive signs such as net outflows from exchanges continues intact while this rally has not seen a big jump in funding rates or open interest. Further institutional adoption such as Australia’s Commonwealth Bank news likely boosted interest in Asia.”