Bitcoin pushes towards record as futures ETF is set to debut

[NEW YORK] Bitcoin resumed its ascent toward all-time highs, with asset manager ProShares poised to launch the first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The largest cryptocurrency gained as much as 5.5 per cent and was trading at about US$61,032 just before 8 am in New York. It had fallen both Saturday and Sunday to nearly US$59,000. Bloomberg News reported Thursday that the Securities Exchange Commission isn't likely to block the products from starting to trade this week, said sources.

"We plan to launch the first Bitcoin-linked ETF on Tuesday on the NYSE," Michael Sapir, chief executive officer of ProShares, said in an interview with Bloomberg. Bitcoin has more than doubled since the start of the year, though the ride has been volatile as the market confronts narratives from increasing institutional adoption and greater asset-class maturity to a crypto crackdown in China and concerns about energy usage.

Other cryptos also gained Monday, with second-largest Ether up about 3.4 per cent. Binance Coin has retaken the third spot in crypto market value after a 17 per cent rally in the past seven days, reported CoinGecko.com.

The technical setup for Bitcoin in its latest rally is a concern for Rick Bensignor, the president of Bensignor Investment Strategies and a former strategist at Morgan Stanley. Depending on Monday's price action, it might "make me think twice about buying Bitcoin now, especially as it's against all-time highs," he said in a note Monday.

Bitcoin's 43 per cent surge so far in October has pushed the crypto into overbought territory, according to relative strength index data. It hit a record high of US$64,869 on April 13.

Crypto-exposed stocks were boosted in premarket trading, including exchange firm Coinbase Global Inc, which added 1.3 per cent, and mining company Riot Blockchain Inc, which gained 1.8 per cent. Riot's UK-based peer Argo Blockchain jumped as much as 9.2 per cent in London after winning new buy-equivalent ratings from Barclays and Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

BLOOMBERG