two-year high on Monday, breaking US$64 000 as a wave of money carried it within striking distance of record levels.
It touched $64 285 early in the Asian day, its highest since late 2021, and was last 2% firmer for the session at $63 850. Bitcoin’s record high just shy of $69 000 was set in November 2021.by market value has gained 50% this year and most of the rise came in the last few weeks where trading volume has surged for US-listed bitcoin funds.Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds were approved in the US earlier this year.
“The flows are not drying up as investors feel more confident the higher price appears to go,” said Markus Thielen, head of research at crypto analytics house 10x Research in Singapore. Smaller rival ether has hitched a ride on speculation that it too may soon have exchange-traded funds driving inflows. It’s up 50% year to date, though at $3 490 on Monday stayed just shy of two-year highs made last week.The rally has come in tandem with records tumbling on stock indexes from Japan’s Nikkei to the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq and with volatility gauges in equities and foreign exchange turning lower.
“In a world where the Nasdaq is making new all-time highs, crypto is going to perform well as bitcoin remains a high-volatility tech proxy and liquidity thermometer,” said Brent Donnelly, trader and president at analysis firm Spectra Markets.Tom Westbrook, 2024 Reuters