Bitcoin, ether scale new peaks as flows pour in to crypto

Sydney, Nov 9 (BUS): Bitcoin and ether hit record highs in Asian trade on Tuesday, with enthusiasm for cryptocurrency adoption and worries about inflation driving momentum and flows into the asset class.

Bitcoin soared to $68,564 in Asian afternoon trade, and Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, earlier reached $4,825.

Both have more than doubled since June and have added nearly 70% against the dollar since the beginning of October.

“We feel the market has shifted,” said Matthew Depp, chief operating officer of Singapore-based crypto asset manager Stack Funds, citing a spike in demand from large investors and even pension funds, according to Reuters.

“People now realize that not being exposed, even in a small amount, is probably not a good thing going forward, so they have to customize at that price,” he said.

Market momentum has been gathering since the launch of a futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US last month, fueling expectations for flow-driven gains.

Inflows into bitcoin products and funds reached a record $6.4 billion this year, according to data from digital asset manager CoinShares, totaling $95 million last week.

Other positive news has also helped, including the plans of Grayscale, the world’s largest cryptocurrency manager, to turn its flagship bitcoin fund into a bitcoin spot trading fund. Last week, Grayscale also filed for inclusion in a “Future of Finance” fund that will track companies involved in the growing digital economy.

“Crypto is where the quick money is,” said Chris Weston, head of research at the brokerage Pepperstone. “(The aether) is trending like a dream and I will be tall and strong here.”

“Clients are net long, with 79% of open positions held for a long time, and I can sense the $5,000 party could start soon.”

Others have indicated that there is some near-term caution on Bitcoin, however, as the cost of funding long positions has risen in recent days, according to trading platform BitMEX – at times a precursor to a pullback.

However, the moves so far have lifted the token by more than 1,680% from its March 2020 lows and helped lift the cryptocurrency’s total market cap above $3 trillion, according to crypto prices and data aggregator CoinGecko.

CoinMarketCap put a slight drop at $2.94 trillion. In both cases, the true believers, or “scammers” in cryptocurrency market parlance, felt justified and remained hopeful.

“They threw everything at the monster and it’s still moving,” payments strategist and occasional Around the Coin host Brian Roemmele said on Twitter. Next stop: #Bitcoin $72,000.

HF