Bitcoin Is Climbing Toward an All-Time High

Warren Buffett may think Bitcoin has zero value, but the world’s most popular cryptocurrency is once again nearing its all-time high. HODLers and true believers can thank the arrival of bitcoin ETFs.  

Return to the Moon

Bitcoin’s value plummeted by more than 70% over roughly a year following its all-time high value in November 2021, when a single unit was worth $68,990. The virtual currency slowly walked back some of its value over several months. Until recently, that is.

The SEC approved so-called spot-bitcoin ETFs in January, allowing investors to essentially buy and sell the digital currency as easily as stocks or mutual funds. Bitcoin enthusiasts long proclaimed the much-awaited approval to be the moment that the OG crypto tipped into legitimacy. And while the arrival of the ETFs initially triggered something of a selloff event, it’s since ushered in a new wave of interest:

• Bitcoin has risen by roughly 50% so far this year, with most of the increase coming in the last few weeks. On Monday, it rose as high as $67,567 — its highest point ever since November 2021.
• The 10 spot bitcoin ETFs have generated about $8 billion in net inflows since their arrival in January, according to a Bloomberg analysis. Nearly $2.2 billion of that came in the last week alone, according to LSEG data — with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust accounting for half of the inflows.

Wall Street Bits: Bitcoin’s resurgence has typically conservative Wall Street firms rethinking their crypto skepticism. Wells Fargo and Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch, among others, now allow access to some bitcoin ETFs for select clients, but still don’t allow their advisers to recommend them, Bloomberg recently reported. “Wall Street will embrace whatever will raise them money so that doesn’t let you know whether it’s good or bad,” Michael Rosen, chief investment officer at multi-asset investment firm Angeles Investments, told Bloomberg. Brent Donnelly, trader and president at analysis firm Spectra Markets, recently provided another perspective to Reuters: “We are back to a 2021-style market where everything goes up and everyone is having fun.”