Bitcoin comes off all-time high but investor interest remains steadfast
Major cryptocurrencies were down on Wednesday morning, coming off recent all-time highs from a day earlier, even as investor interest in the market remains strong.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) was down 1.6% and was trading at $66,883 (£49,428). Ethereum (ETH-USD), the second largest crypto by market cap, was down 1.1% and was trading at $4,739.
Bitcoin’s price at one point on Tuesday rose above $68,000, crossing a previous record set late last month. Ethereum had hit a record high of $4,840, surpassing the $4,800 level for the first time ever.
"It was a good start to the week for the crypto markets…bitcoin’s move comes after a consolidation period of 17 days within the $58,000 to $64,000 range,” said cryptocurrency exchange and wallet Luno’s UK manager, Sam Kopelman.
He said: “Hot on the heels of bitcoin, ethereum has risen 8% over the last seven days — now increasing at the same rate as bitcoin,” adding that “the growing optimism in bitcoin could be down to the upcoming deadline for the US Securities and Exchange Commission's [SEC] response to VanEck’s spot based bitcoin exchange traded fund [ETF] on 14 November, with traders trying to front run any good news.”
The VanEck bitcoin trust, a spot ETF, could launch as soon as next week if the SEC approves it.
Meanwhile Kunal Sawhney, CEO at Kalkine Group told Yahoo Finance UK: "The recent correction in the bitcoin and ethereum prices is just a marginal retrace from the lifetime peaks as investors with considerably high holdings always look for such instances."
He said the proportionate interest of retail investors has witnessed a spike after the introduction of bitcoin ETFs on a conventional stock exchange — the first bitcoin ETF started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (^AMZI) last month.
He added that the combined market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies hitting $3tn for the first time has supplemented this interest,
He believes bitcoin is "well-positioned to register fresh record highs in the near term as big-ticket investors continue to accumulate to hedge the portfolio against the persisting uncertainty in equities and the underlying businesses.”
Watch: What are the risks of investing in cryptocurrency?
