Bitcoin’s bull run sees it tops $66,000 – just $3,000 off record high

The price of bitcoin jumped past $66,000 on Monday afternoon, leaving it just $3,000 shy of its all-time high.

London time, bitcoin was trading at $66,327, its highest total since November 2021.

The bull run comes after the US securities regulator approved a series of bitcoin exchange-traded funds, dramatically expanding the opportunity for institutional and individual investors to back the crypto.

Last week, bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a cumulative net inflow of around $1.7 billion, meaning incoming money has exceeded $7.4 billion since their inception, according to Fineqia.

There was also a bullish movement for gold, which today reached a new all-time high. The price of the precious metal rose to $2,114 (£1,664) an ounce on the spot market, after steady increases over recent weeks.

The surge saw bitcoin spot ETF trading volumes reach $22.3 billion, with average daily trading volume just under $4.5 billion.

Blackrock’s iBIT led the way with over $10 billion in assets under management (AUM) last week, the fastest ETF in history to reach this AUM milestone.

The news comes just days after bitcoin jumped past $57,000 on Tuesday, hitting a high of $64,000 on Wednesday.

Bitcoin is now trading at its highest price in dollar terms since November 2021 and is helping to spark a rally in other major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, which surpassed $3,500 on Monday afternoon, its highest price since April 2022.

Last week, eToro market analyst Simon Peters told This is Money: ‘The driving force behind the price movement appears to be that the recently approved bitcoin spot ETFs continue to acquire bitcoins in significant quantities.

‘Since their launch, bitcoin spot ETFs have amassed holdings representing more than 3 percent of all bitcoins in existence today. This milestone highlights a growing trend of institutional investors seeking exposure to bitcoin.’

Peters also added that we could see a new all-time high “in the coming weeks.”

The world’s largest cryptocurrency has regained significant ground since falling to a low of $16,000 following the FTX collapse in 2022.

In 2023, bitcoin languished between $20,000 and $30,000 for much of the year before reaching $43,000 in December, in anticipation of the US regulator’s approval of bitcoin spot ETFs.

It approached the $48,000 mark for the first time in a year before the decision before falling to $38,000 following the decision.