Bitcoin rose to a record high of over $66,000 on Wednesday following another step towards mainstream status as the digital currency forayed onto Wall Street.
A bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), a type of financial instrument, debuted on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
The news strengthened demand for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, which rushed to an all-time high of $66,976 in London on Wednesday.
The digital coin, created 13 years ago and perceived as the preserve of hobbyists and internet geeks for a long time, has managed to be embraced by many major banks.
The new fund is a more accessible channel that allows bitcoin to be accessed by even more investors.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said, “Interest in bitcoin in the wake of yesterday’s new ETF launch has helped to push the cryptocurrency to a new record high”.
Hewson added, “Bitcoin is more or less mainstream already with various banks offering clients exposure to it. This merely takes it to the next level”.
The Bitcoin Strategy ETF surged around 5% on its first day of trading on Tuesday.
Bitcoin itself has now gained more than 50% within the last month as well as a whopping 450% over the past year.
As this week’s remarkable gains have triggered talks of hitting $100,000 in the months ahead, AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam commented, “The party is on. The fact is that this is only a beginning as investors. Given the price momentum we are seeing on the back of bitcoin’s ETF, we believe that bitcoin can easily go all the way to $100,000 by the end of this year.”
Oanda analyst Craig Erlam warned that investors should remain cautious over the volatile unit. He said, “The ETF is an incredibly important move to getting mainstream investors on board. That is not to say there will suddenly be a pile into bitcoin — it’s still a highly speculative and volatile instrument. But it’s a step in the right direction for an asset class that’s craving institutional acceptance.”
The virtual unit had touched its prior record of $64,870 in April, ahead of the Nasdaq launch of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, but plummeted in May owing to Chinese regulatory concerns.
China has launched a cracked down on trading and mining cryptocurrencies, which are created through solving complex equations.
