Bitcoin's recent price surge ensured the cryptocurrency reached an all-time high, breaking beyond the $66,000 barrier for the first time, retaining its position as the world's most valuable cryptocurrency. The market cap of all cryptocurrencies surpassed $2.53 trillion in May this year, reaching an all-time high of $2.64 trillion because of the latest Bitcoin price spike.
Bitcoin's surge is the number one topic being discussed in our social media and Telegram groups at the moment. Many investors are astonished as to why Bitcoin's price has risen so dramatically. Let's look at what this implies for investors as I examine the reasons why the Bitcoin price hit an all-time high this time.
What’s causing Bitcoin's price to rise?
The launch of the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, trading under the ‘BITO’ ticker on Wall Street) on the New York Stock Exchange, is the key driving force behind this Bitcoin price spike. Many crypto sector investors around the world have been advocating the advantages of crypto ETFs for years, most notably Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, famous for their involvement in Facebook who had their Bitcoin ETF turned down by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2017. The success of this Bitcoin ETF has in turn set a precedent for other cryptocurrency ETFs to pass the audit, and it is also the primary driver for the recent rise in cryptocurrency values. The ProShares ETF witnessed
“one of the biggest first days on record for ETFs, raking in $550 million from crypto-hungry investors. Overall, more than $1.01 billion of shares changed hands,”
according to a report on business news channel CNBC.
Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (Bitcoin ETFs) are actually Bitcoin ‘futures’, not direct investments in Bitcoin. Futures are a kind of financial derivatives, which are essentially an agreement to buy and sell assets at a future date, meaning the assets are not owned by the investors. The fund's main feature is that it allows non-crypto investors to buy Bitcoin without having to register a separate cryptocurrency trading account.
ProShares CEO Michael L. Sapir confirmed:
“BITO will open up exposure to bitcoin to a large segment of investors who have a brokerage account and are comfortable buying stocks and ETFs, but do not desire to go through the hassle and learning curve of establishing another account with a cryptocurrency provider and creating a bitcoin wallet.”
Simply put Bitcoin ETFs are not the same as buying Bitcoin directly.
“The futures-linked fund is subject to rollover risk, meaning that when it periodically closes positions in the futures contracts it holds, it can find itself, as is the case now, repurchasing new batches of future-dated contracts for more money. The situation, known as "contango," eats into profits,”
confirmed the report in Fortune.
So, if you're thinking about buying Bitcoin ETFs, make sure you know everything there is to know about futures trading.
What does the Bitcoin price surge mean?
I believe that if you plan to invest in cryptocurrencies for the long term rather than the short term, the latest all-time high of Bitcoin should be treated in the same way as any other volatile asset.
The benefit of buying and holding cryptocurrencies is that you don't have to feel driven to trade when the price is extremely high or low because you're working within a longer investing framework. Because of the volatility of cryptocurrencies, the market rises and falls to new highs and lows.
If you've done your homework and have a well-defined investment strategy, these price fluctuations shouldn't affect your long-term position or approach. The best advice is to carefully weigh up the pros and cons of buying Bitcoin for the long term and make sure you have a well-thought-out crypto investment plan at the outset.
To put it another way, some active investors may believe now is a good opportunity to profit, while others believe Bitcoin will continue to grow in value. It was reported recently in Forbes that a panel of 50 bitcoin and cryptocurrency experts has predicted,
“the bitcoin price will continue to climb through 2021, hitting highs of around $80,000, before surging to $250,000 by 2025 and a staggering $5 million per bitcoin by 2030”.
When compared to buying and holding cryptocurrencies, active trading has the advantage of allowing investors to profit from market fluctuations and new all-time highs.
I feel that the launch of the Bitcoin ETF is an important step forward in the mainstream acceptance and usage of cryptocurrencies, which will benefit the whole crypto industry. Indeed, in a recent Motley Fool report, it’s suggested that Ethereum, crypto's second-biggest player could be an even better bet.
“I think the long-term application building potential of the Ethereum network makes Ether a more attractive option for investors looking to benefit from the evolution of blockchain technologies,”
argued Keith Noonan.
“Ether's price per token has surged roughly 458% across 2021's trading. Despite significantly outpacing Bitcoin's gains across the stretch, I still think Ethereum stands a good chance of outperforming Bitcoin over the long term,”
he added.
The Bitcoin ETF has helped institutional investors gain confidence and may open the door to new retail investors. According to the latest research, more than 50 million people in the US plan to invest in cryptocurrencies next year, and the Bitcoin ETF no doubt will play a crucial role in that adoption process.
The cryptocurrency sector has come a long way since Bitcoin's launch in 2009, but there is still a long way to go and numerous technical obstacles to overcome before the industry reached mainstream adoption, with the blockchain sector as a whole still missing its "killer app," and still awaiting its "Netscape moment."
The crypto community has been waiting for its own version of this moment for years.
“And it may have just arrived with the first U.S. Bitcoin ETF begin trading, with more are on the way, and Bitcoin and Ethereum both hitting all new all-time highs,”
according to Decrypt’s executive editor Jeff John Roberts.
The future regulation of cryptocurrencies in many nations is still an “unknown possibility”. Individual countries are expected to introduce stronger regulatory frameworks and plans relating to the Bitcoin sector soon. As reported in the FT on October 13, the SEC’s indication that it is going to look more closely at how it regulates complex exchange-traded products has implications for future bitcoin ETF rules:
“Last week, SEC Chair Gary Gensler directed staff to study the risks of ETFs employing strategies ‘more complex than typical stocks and bonds’ and draft potential rules to address those concerns,”
the FT confirmed.
"Bitcoin ETF could attract more than $400 million in investment accordingly to Bloomberg. This is just the beginning based on what I see. Give it a few more months, we could see double of what we see right now. Australia’s corporate regulator has given the green light to a range of cryptocurrency-related ETFs, which could see Bitcoin and Ethereum-backed investment funds trading on the ASX in the coming months. This could triple the amount. I am optimistic."
Anndy Lian, Chairman, BigONE Exchange commented on Twitter.
To conclude, as a result, I advise investors who are taking advantage of the current bull market to be prepared. The Bitcoin market may actually become more volatile because of planned regulatory reforms.