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A physical replica of Bitcoin is photographed at a branch of a cryptocurrency exchange near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul on October 20, 2021.
New York
CNN
—
Bitcoin has risen to all-time highs Monday, Shaking off a rut that lasted over two years that put the future of the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem into question.
Bitcoin, the world's first and largest digital currency, was trading at $68,791, topping its highest level in 2019. The previous record of $68,789 was reached on November 10, 2021.
Over the past few months, Bitcoin's rise has been significantly fueled by US regulators' approval of exchange-traded funds tied to digital assets, creating a path for traditional investors to incorporate Bitcoin into their portfolios.
This approval took years of lobbying by cryptocurrency companies, and was only reluctantly granted by the SEC after a court ruled that the regulator's reasons for denying applications for bitcoin ETFs were “arbitrary and capricious.”
The first 11 “spot” bitcoin ETFs — which track the real-time market price of the asset — launched in January.
After just one month, ETFs have spurred more than $4.2 billion in net new inflows, according to Bloomberg.
ETFs are investment vehicles that track a basket of assets but trade like stocks. Part of the appeal of a Bitcoin ETF is that investors can get exposure to Bitcoin through their usual brokerage firm, rather than having to set up a digital wallet through a cryptocurrency exchange.
Bitcoin is a bellwether in the broader $2 trillion cryptocurrency industry, whose reputation has been damaged by a series of headline-grabbing negative events: the bankruptcies of high-profile exchanges and lenders, volatile price swings, and the Sam Bankman-Fried trial, an unprecedented event. . A cryptocurrency celebrity who was convicted in November of stealing billions of dollars from customers on his FTX exchange, which collapsed in late 2022.
Bitcoin, which accounts for more than half of all cryptocurrencies in circulation, has risen more than 200% over the past 12 months, according to CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin's rally has also been fueled by cryptocurrency believers, who expect further gains this spring after an event known as the “halving.” About every four years, the number of bitcoins entering circulation halves — a feature built into the cryptocurrency, and limited by design. As Bitcoin approaches scarcity, its value is expected to rise.
