A bitcoin is seen in an illustration picture : taken at La Maison du Bitcoin in Paris, France, June 23, 2017. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
New York (Reuters) - Bitcoin hit a record high on Tuesday, fueled by investors pouring money into U.S. spot exchange-traded crypto products and the prospect that global interest rates may fall.
The world's largest cryptocurrency hit a high of $69,202, topping November 2021's all-time peak of $68,999.99. Investor interest has increased since the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs in late January.
NATHAN MCCAULEY, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, ANCHORAGE DIGITAL, SAN FRANCISCO, CA
“The Bitcoin all-time high marks a turning point for crypto. Traditional institutions were once sitting out; today, they are here in full force as the principal drivers of the crypto bull market.
If you want to know why institutions are here for the long term, just look at the underlying economics. Between the new ETFs and upcoming halving, demand for Bitcoin is rising while supply is diminishing.
The industry used the bear market to build a more mature market structure, bringing traditional investment vehicles—like SEC-regulated ETFs—to crypto.
Now, we are seeing exactly what happens when the market has safe, secure, and compliant access to the asset class—and institutions are just getting started.”
ANTONI TRENCHEV, CO-FOUNDER, NEXO, ZUG, SWITZERLAND
“Bitcoin recapturing its old high of $69,000 inspires a new set of superlatives for the oldest cryptocurrency that continues to divide opinion and conquer all comers with its returns.
Bitcoin has been propelled past its 2021 high by a bunch of ETFs that are squeezing supply and that means its trajectory looks set to continue towards $100,000 and beyond.”
ALVIN TAN, HEAD OF ASIA FX STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, SINGAPORE
“One part of (bitcoin's rally) has to do with the generally positive sentiment on risk in general. You can see that in the all-time high in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The other part of it is definitely the institutionalization of interest in bitcoin through the ETFs that have been launched.”
“Finally I think after quite a volatile two year period where there were a lot of scandals about crypto exchanges and crypto personalities, we haven’t had any of that for a few months, so we’re maybe seeing the dust settling on that.”
“I’m not quite sure how one would value bitcoin, but certainly I think the rise in the last couple of months is quite extraordinary. I don’t really know if it’s going to continue at this speed."
(Reporting by the Global Finance & Markets Breaking News team)
