Bitcoin scales new high in volatile trade

BITCOIN rallied again yesterday in volatile trade, while ether jumped almost 10 percent as crypto mania continued to sweep through the investment community.

Bitcoin rose by as much as 6.8 percent to a session high of US$67,645, after having dropped 6 percent on Tuesday from an earlier record high above US$69,000. It was last up 5.7 percent at US$66,896.

Ether, meanwhile, surged by 9.8 percent to its highest since January 2022. It was last up 8.6 percent at US$3,827.

Bitcoin has already surged 55 percent this year so far, fuelled by investors pouring money into United States spot exchange-traded crypto products and the prospect that global interest rates may fall.

Billions of dollars have flowed into exchange-traded funds in the past few weeks and the market is getting extra support from an outlook that includes an ethereum upgrade and bitcoin “halving,” which slows the flow of bitcoin minting, said Lennix Lai, global chief commercial officer at crypto exchange OKX.

“The trend also indicates an elevated level of mainstream acceptance of bitcoin, perhaps more than ever before.”

The approval of 11 spot bitcoin ETFs by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in

January had marked a watershed moment for the industry, after an 18-month long crypto winter plagued by a string of high-profile corporate bankruptcies and scandals.

Even institutional investors who once shunned crypto due to its sharp and wild moves, have begun committing long-term money too, which experts say could help sustain the latest leg of this rally.

(Reuters)