A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Ethereum is seen among the representations of other cryptocurrencies in this illustration from image taken on June 14, 2021. REUTERS / Edgar Su / Illustration
SYDNEY, Nov. 9 (Reuters) - Bitcoin and ether hit record peaks in Asian trading on Tuesday, with excitement over crypto adoption and concerns about inflation driving momentum and flows into the asset class.
Bitcoin rose as high as $ 68,564 in afternoon trading in Asia and Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, previously reached $ 4,825.
Both have more than doubled since June and have added nearly 70% against the dollar since early October.
"We have a feeling the market has changed," said Matthew Dibb, COO of Singapore-based crypto asset manager Stack Funds, noting a strong pickup in demand from large investors and even pension funds. .
"People are now realizing that not having any exposure, not even a small amount, is probably not a good thing in the future, so they have to allocate to this price," he said.
Market momentum has been building since the launch last month of a futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the United States, generating flow-driven earnings expectations. read more
Inflows into bitcoin products and funds have reached a record $ 6.4 billion so far this year, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed, and totaled $ 95 million last week. read more
Other positive news has also helped, including plans by Grayscale, the world's largest digital currency manager, to convert its trust to flagship bitcoin. (GBTC.PK) in an exchange-traded bitcoin spot fund. Last week also grayscale applied to list a "future of finance" fund that would track companies involved in the growing digital economy.
"Crypto is where the fast money is," said Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone. "(Ether) has a trend like a dream and I would be long and strong here," he added.
"Clients are net long, with 79% of open positions long, and I can feel the $ 5k party could start soon."
However, others pointed to the cause of some short-term caution with bitcoin, as the cost of funding long positions has skyrocketed in recent days, according to trading platform BitMEX, sometimes a precursor to a pullback.
Still, the moves so far have pushed the token more than 1680% higher from its March 2020 lows and helped lift the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies above $ 3 trillion, according to the data aggregator. and prices of CoinGecko cryptocurrencies.
CoinMarketCap put it slightly lower at $ 2.94 trillion. Either way, the true believers, or "hodlers" in crypto markets terminology, have felt vindicated and remain optimistic.
"They threw everything at the beast and it still moves," Brian Roemmele, payments strategist and sometimes host of the Around the Coin podcast, said on Twitter. "Next stop: #Bitcoin $ 72000".
(This story corrected Roemmele's spelling in the final paragraph)
Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Edited by Rosalba O'Brien, Lincoln Feast, Muralikumar Anantharaman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
