Cryptocurrency: bitcoin hits a new all-time high

Published on : 20/10/2021 – 17:10

Good news for investors. The price of bitcoin soared Wednesday, October 20 to more than $ 66,000, driven by the launch of a financial product on Wall Street linked to cryptocurrency. A historic step for its democratization.

The cryptocurrency, which traded for less than a dollar 12 years ago, peaked during trading at $ 66,273 around 2 p.m. GMT (4 p.m. in Paris), up more than 50% over a month and more than 450% over one year.

Bitcoin has benefited for a month from the launch of the first index fund (ETF) linked to its price on the New York Stock Exchange, whose trading began on Tuesday: investors hope that new funds will be able to enter the cryptocurrency market by using this new regulated financial product.

The first trading session seems to have been a success, as the ETF had 24.4 million trades and ended up sharply higher.

“This proves that there is a strong appetite for bitcoin exposure,” comments Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at ThinkMarkets, who however notes that buying this ETF does not represent a direct investment in bitcoin.

Yoyo effect

By purchasing shares of this new ETF, investors are not going to bet directly on bitcoins. Their money will be placed in bitcoin-linked futures contracts.

The indirect aspect of this placement was fundamental in the eyes of the American market regulator, the SEC, which regularly warned about the significant volatility of bitcoin.

Regulators are struggling to position themselves on the subject of cryptocurrencies, whose decentralized network is difficult to control.

Many big names in tech and finance on Wall Street, on the other hand, have announced new cryptocurrency-related projects in the past twelve months.

A year ago, on October 21, 2020, the online payments giant Paypal kicked off the price hike by launching a cryptocurrency buying, selling and payment service.

With AFP