The leading cryptocurrency bitcoin traded near an all-time high on Wednesday, the day after the first U.S. bitcoin futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) began trading, a development that market participants say is likely to drive investment into the cryptocurrency. The world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap was last at $63,998, off 0.4%, but still within a short jump of its record of $64,895.22, hit April 14 this year.
Bitcoin reached as high as $64,499 on Tuesday.
Bitcoin reached as high as $64,499 on Tuesday, late in the U.S. day. On the same day, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF closed up 2.59% at $41.94 after its first day of trading, with around $1 billion worth of shares trading hands on Intercontinental Exchange Inc’s ICE.N Arca exchange. Analysts said that trading appeared to be dominated by smaller investors and high-frequency trading firms, noting that the absence of large block trades indicated that institutions were likely staying on the sidelines. James Quinn, the managing partner at Q9 Capital, said the launch of the new product was “meaningful” for bitcoin.
This ETF will allow activity in the spot market and the bitcoin price.
Theoretically, any licensed brokerage firm in the U.S. who wants to take on this ETF can do so as easily as any other ETF, which should make it available to a lot of folks,” Quinn added. While the ETF is based on bitcoin futures, Quinn said the trades and hedges underpinning the ETF would mean that activity will flow into the spot market and the bitcoin price. Crypto ETFs have launched this year in Canada and Europe amid surging interest in digital assets. VanEck and Valkyrie are among fund managers pursuing U.S.-listed ETF products, although Invesco dropped its plans for a futures-based ETF on Monday.
