Bitcoin reached a six-month high on Friday with an increase of almost 4%. The world’s biggest cryptocurrency touched $59,664, its highest since mid-April.
Bitcoin has doubled its value during the ongoing year and is fast approaching its record high of $64,895 in April.
Traders have received a boost of confidence as US regulators have hinted at the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on its futures contracts.
As per reports from Bloomberg, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is planning to permit the first US bitcoin futures Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to commence trading next week.
Head of research and strategy at Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange AAX, Ben Caselin said bitcoin’s jump above $59,000 wasn’t arbitrary and long-term investors had been accumulating it for a while. He added, “It is widely expected that Q4 will see significant progress around a bitcoin ETF in the US.” Caselin explained that the spike on Friday was also spurred by a tweet from the SEC’s investor education office. The SEC office tweeted, “Before investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits”.
Investors in the cryptocurrency have been anticipating news of the approval of the country’s first bitcoin ETF, contributing to some of bitcoin’s rally in recent months. The move is expected to boost the adoption and trading of cryptocurrencies in the mainstream.
A number of fund managers, including the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, ProShares, Invesco, Valkyrie and Galaxy Digital Funds have applied to launch bitcoin ETFs in theUS. Cryptocurrency ETFs have been launched this year in Canada and Europe.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler previously said that the crypto market involves many tokens which may be unregistered securities and leaves prices open to manipulation and millions of investors vulnerable to risks.
The Bloomberg report said that the proposals by ProShares and Invesco are based on futures contracts and were filed under mutual fund rules that Gensler has said provide “significant investor protections”.
