NEW YORK – Bitcoin and Ether hit record peaks on November 9, with enthusiasm for cryptocurrency adoption and worry about inflation driving momentum and flows into the asset class.
Though both virtual currencies pulled back from their highs in the US session, their trajectory was clearly headed higher.
Bitcoin rose as high as US$68,564.40 (RM284,645) and was last down 0.1% at US$67,325 while Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market value, earlier hit US$4,842.65 before trading down 0.7% at US$4,774.
Both have more than doubled since June and added nearly 70% against the dollar since the start of October.
Market momentum has been gathering since last month’s launch of a futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States raised expectations of flow-driven gains.
Inflows into bitcoin products and funds have hit a record US$6.4 billion so far this year, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed, and totaled US$95 million last week.
Huge pandemic savings and more upbeat global growth prospects suggested that digital assets would remain well-supported, analysts said.
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