Bitcoin flirts with $70,000 after $2.4 billion inflow into ETFs

By Sunil Jagtiani

Bitcoin came close to $70,000 on Monday as a spurt of inflows into exchange-traded funds for the largest digital asset as well as optimism about the outlook for US regulations supported sentiment.

The cryptocurrency rose 1 per cent before paring some of the gains to trade at $69,005 as of 7:20 am in London. Smaller tokens such as second-ranked Ether and top 10 coin Solana oscillated in narrow ranges.

US spot-Bitcoin ETFs lured almost $2.4 billion of net inflows in the six days through October 18, data compiled by Bloomberg show, partly on bets that US crypto rules will become friendlier after the November 5 presidential election.

Prospect of friendlier US crypto rules boosts Bitcoin.

Republican candidate Donald Trump is avowedly pro-crypto, so much so that Bitcoin is viewed as a so-called Trump trade.

Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed to support a regulatory framework for the industry. That contrasts with a crackdown on the sector under the Biden administration.

The two key market trends are the elections and the global macroeconomic environment, according to David Lawant, head of research at crypto prime broker FalconX.

The Bitcoin options market indicates that “forward implied volatility is heavily clustered around the election day and somewhat subdued leading to it and sometime after it,” he wrote in a note.

Bitcoin climbed nearly 10 per cent in the seven days through Sunday, the original cryptocurrency’s best weekly performance in more than a month.

ETF demand helped the token reach a record high of $73,798 in March. The rally cooled and Bitcoin last traded above $70,000 back in June.