Bitcoin Hits New ATH, Igniting a Broad Crypto Price Wave

After a relatively quiet weekend, the cryptocurrency market has exploded back to life at the start of the new week, led by the unstoppable momentum of its largest asset: Bitcoin. This powerful rally has broken all previous records, reinforcing investor confidence and creating a positive spillover effect across the entire market.

1. Bitcoin Conquers a New Peak

According to SoSoValue data on July 14, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 1.33% over the past 24 hours, but more importantly, it touched the $119,000 price level, officially setting a new all-time high (ATH). BTC decisively breaking past its old peaks is a critically important psychological event. It not only erases doubts about a bear market but also puts the asset into "price discovery" territory—a phase often accompanied by strong volatility and parabolic growth potential as there are no historical resistance levels left.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) also posted a 0.83% gain, consolidating around the key psychological mark of $3,000. Although it has lagged BTC in the last 24 hours, ETH's stability at a high price level suggests a solid foundation is being built, ready for its next leg up.

2. The Surprising Return of NFTs and GameFi

The most interesting highlight of this rally is the leadership from the culture and entertainment-focused sectors. The NFT segment had an explosive day, rising 8.54% to become the best-performing sector. The main driver was Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), which surged 22.49%. This rally was fueled by a strong social catalyst as multiple official X accounts of major platforms simultaneously changed their profile pictures to the brand's imagery, creating a wave of viral marketing and widespread recognition.

Following closely behind was the GameFi sector, which gained 4.56%. Leading blockchain gaming projects like The Sandbox (SAND) and ImmutableX (IMX) both saw impressive gains of 11.07% and 9.40%, respectively. The return of these two sectors shows that capital is not just focused on infrastructure but is now flowing back into the more consumer-facing, culturally relevant sectors that often thrive in the more euphoric stages of a bull market.

3. Green Spreads Across the Market

The optimism was not limited to just a few sectors. Data shows a broad-based rally:

PayFi: Gained 4.42%, with Stellar (XLM) surging nearly 24%.
Layer-2: Up 4.31%, led by Mantle (MNT) and Stacks (STX).
DeFi: Up 3.17%, with Ethena (ENA) continuing its strong momentum.
Layer-1: Gained 2.29%, where Hedera (HBAR) posted a massive 25.99% gain.
Even the Meme sector rose 1.59%, with Mog Coin (MOG) up over 18%.

Overall, Bitcoin setting a new ATH has acted as a powerful psychological catalyst, unleashing waiting capital and igniting a market-wide buying wave. The leadership from sectors like NFT and GameFi may signal a new phase of this growth cycle, where cultural narratives and user-facing applications attract major attention.