Bitcoin on Wednesday soared past $65,000 USD to set a new all-time record high.
The blockchain-backed coin exceeded the milestone at 9:43 a.m. EST, and it is now trading above $66,400 USD, according to Coindesk data. The record marks the resurgence of the digital currency, which previously set an all-time high of just under $65,000 USD in April before declining to as low as $29,800 USD in June.
“The key here is whether we are able to establish support above $65,000,” Jesse Proudman, CEO of crypto robo-advisor Makara, told CNBC. “If we can, the classic Q4 crypto rallies we’ve seen in most years could take Bitcoin towards some of the loftier price predictions we’ve seen over the past several months. If sell pressure takes over, though, our next leg up could take a while to materialize.”
Bitcoin received a significant boost after the release of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (exchange-traded fund), which launched on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “BITO” and rose nearly 5% on its first day of trading, according to CNBC. Instead of allowing people to invest in Bitcoin directly, the ETF grants hesitant investors the opportunity to trade the cryptocurrency based on predicting its price fluctuations.
In an interview with the New York Times, CEO of ProShares Michael Sapir said that the move gives people “convenient access to Bitcoin in a wrapper that has market integrity.”
Additionally, Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, rose more than 5% to pass the $4,000 USD threshold. The digital coin traded at $4,043.47 USD, just under its record high of $4,380 USD in May.
In other news, the U.S. has overtaken China as the largest miner of Bitcoin.
