**Bitcoin Eyes $66,000 Milestone As Memecoins Surge on Stimulus News**

Bitcoin made a significant move toward the $66,000 mark, hitting its highest level since the start of August. The cryptocurrency reached over $65,900 during Europe's mid-morning trades, reflecting a rise of over 3% in the last 24 hours, before settling just above $65,500. Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. experienced a remarkable day on Thursday with inflows amounting to $365 million, bringing the week's total to over $600 million.

The broader digital asset market also saw gains, with the CoinDesk 20 Index rising by approximately 1.8%. Leading the charge was dogecoin, which jumped around 9% to nearly $0.125 amid a surge in memecoin prices. This spike was fueled by China's plans for a major stimulus package, which ignited memecoins such as SHIB and FLOKI, both showing double-digit growth.

Memecoins generally thrive on liquidity injections, as an abundance of available cash boosts traders' appetite for risk. "Leading the gains are the SOL and BTC ecosystems, indicating a strong focus on meme coins as overall liquidity grows. While not nearly as explosive as meme coins on the aforementioned chains, meme coins on Ethereum, such as $PEPE and $SHIB, are also experiencing heightened interest from the market," said HashKey OTC CEO Li Liang.

Another notable event was the performance of TIA, the token of data-availability network Celestia, which recorded its best monthly gain this year. Contrary to expectations that the token's price would drop due to an upcoming $1.13 billion token unlock, TIA surged by 40% in September. Market participants had positioned for a downtrend ahead of the October 31 unlock, equivalent to 16% of the total supply. However, this expectation may have triggered a short squeeze, contributing to TIA's substantial rally. "Traders tried to sell ahead of the [unlock] event from Julyish. I'd argue the squeeze has already happened," said Jake Ostovskis, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute.