Bitcoin’s price rose above $66,000 on Monday afternoon, leaving it just $3,000 below its all-time high.
At 5pm London time, bitcoin was trading at $66,327, the highest total since November 2021.
The bull run comes after the US securities regulator approved a series of bitcoin exchange-traded funds, dramatically expanding the options for institutional and individual investors to back the crypto.
Last week, bitcoin spot ETFs saw cumulative net inflows of about $1.7 billion, meaning more than $7.4 billion inflows since inception, according to Fineqia.
As of Monday afternoon, Bitcoin was trading at over $66,000, leaving it just under $3,000 below its all-time high of $69,000.
A move higher also came for gold, which hit a new all-time high today. The price of the precious metal rose to $2,114 (£1,664) per ounce on the spot market, after steady increases in recent weeks.
The surge saw trading volumes for bitcoin spot ETFs reach $22.3 billion, with a daily average trading volume of just under $4.5 billion.
Blackrock’s iBIT led the way last week with more than $10 billion in assets under management (AUM), the fastest ETF in history to reach this AUM milestone.
The news comes just a few days after bitcoin soared above $57,000 on Tuesday, peaking at $64,000 on Wednesday.
Bitcoin is now trading at its highest price in dollars since November 2021, adding to a rally in other major cryptocurrencies such as ethereum, which topped $3,500 on Monday afternoon – the highest price since April 2022.
Last week, Simon Peters, market analyst at eToro, told This is Money: “The driving force behind the price movement appears to be because the recently approved bitcoin spot ETFs continue to acquire bitcoin in significant quantities.
“Since its launch, Bitcoin spot ETFs have amassed holdings representing more than 3 percent of all Bitcoin currently in existence. This milestone highlights a growing trend of institutional investors seeking exposure to bitcoin.”
Peters also added that we could see a new all-time high “in the coming weeks.”
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has gained significant ground since falling to a low of $16,000 in the wake of the 2022 FTX collapse.
In 2023, bitcoin languished between $20,000 and $30,000 for much of the year before hitting $43,000 in December ahead of US regulator approval of bitcoin spot ETFs.
It approached the $48,000 mark for the first time in a year prior to the decision, before falling to $38,000 after the decision.
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