Bitcoin price prints a fresh all-time high above $67,000 mark
Bitcoin price has reached yet another all-time high on Wednesday, breaking its intraday peak set six months ago. The value of all bitcoins in circulation is also breaking the record, reaching above $1.24 trillion and continuing to climb.
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency surged as much as 8%, having sailed to a new record of $67,016 per coin at one point today. The new ATH caps a month of gains for the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency. Bitcoin has been on a tear in recent weeks, having risen 40% from just below $44,000 at the end of September.
It is also an impressive feat considering that just a year ago the currency hovered around $12,000 per unit. So today’s rally has brought its year-over-year gain to nearly 550%, also growing by almost two times from July lows.
No single event seems to have pushed bitcoin’s price to bust out previous records. But the latest bull run coincided with the first ever Bitcoin ETF debuting on the New York Stock Exchange.
Marking a long-awaited milestone for the crypto industry, ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF began trading under the ticker symbol “BITO.” The fund, which invests in bitcoin futures contracts rather than the underlying coin, rose 5% at $41.90 earlier today.
“The ETF approval is a watershed moment for the industry. This moment is long-awaited, as numerous entrepreneurs and firms have sought approval from regulators since as early as 2013. Today begins an era where retail investors can invest directly into Bitcoin through the ETF, and serves as further validation of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies across the country and on a global basis,” said Bitcoin Foundation chairman Brock Pierce.
Crypto advocates argue that the recent recovery is the beginning of a major bull run that could see bitcoin blast past the $100,000 level before the end of 2021. The world’s largest, and most recognized, cryptocurrency hit as low as $30,000 in July.
The price resurgence in 2020 and 2021 makes a different story when compared with bitcoin’s first run-up in late 2017/early 2018. The records set four years ago were driven by retail investors when Bitcoin became a household investment. This explains why it crashed by more than 80% soon after.
The growing interest from deep-pocket companies, and wealthy investors marks a sharp turn-around. This time, more and more Wall Street institutions have started to see Bitcoin as a safe haven and anti-inflation asset at a time of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, driving demand upward.
Other factors that have supported its recent record gains include PayPal officially making its move into the cryptocurrency market. Further, a number of large institutional investors showed interest in investing into products tied to the cryptocurrency.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency funds and products have amassed huge inflows billion so far this year. Throughout 2020, New York-based Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest crypto-fund manager, saw its Assets Under Management (AUM) grow to $45 billion.
