Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin Reaches New Record High, Topping $66,000
After a series of ups, downs, and overall volatility that it’s known for, Bitcoin had reason to celebrate this week. On Wednesday, October 20th, Bitcoin reached a new record high after breaking through the $65,000 mark. Furthermore, as of this writing, BTC is now trading above $66,000. Prior to this, the record was recorded at $64,889 set on April 14th, 2021.
The rise in prices comes as the Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO) debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. According to Yahoo Finance, this is the first Bitcoin-related fund available to U.S. investors after getting Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval. BITO’s launch made for the second-largest ETF debut ever. While shares of BITO opened at $40, they’re currently trading for upwards of $43.50. Explaining a bit about how the ETF will operate, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas told Yahoo Finance, “The daily correlation of BITO to spot Bitcoin is going to be almost perfect,” although he says that it could miss the price of BTC by 5-10% over the course of a few years. Balchunas also noted, “Advisors probably won’t buy it. It’s going to get exciting but that excitement will be driven by traders, not long-term investors.”
Of course, while this most recent rally can likely be attributed to the arrival of BITO, mainstream interest in crypto has been on a long upswing. More recently, the roll-out of several Bitcoin rewards credit cards — including the BlockFI credit card that’s now accepting applications — have bolstered demand. In fact, earlier this year, Visa reported that $1 billion in purchases had been made using crypto-linked cards. Elsewhere, the popular trading app Robinhood is doubling down on crypto by adding wallets to its platform while its competitor Public plans on enabling cryptocurrency trading (including Bitcoin) soon.
While Bitcoin believers may be enthusiastic about this week’s trends, as always, it’s hard to know exactly where BTC prices go from here. Although the continued adoption of crypto would suggest a long-term increase in prices, the asset’s history of dramatic pull-backs could make riding the current wave risky. Then again, risk and volatility are the names of the game when it comes to crypto. So, what will Bitcoin’s next big record be — and when will it hit that milestone? We’ll have to wait and see.
