Cryptocurrency

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin was on track for its biggest monthly gain in more than three years on Thursday and within sight of a record high, propelled by cash rushing into exchange-traded funds.The approval and launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. this year has opened the asset class to new investors and reignited the excitement that evaporated when prices collapsed in the “crypto winter” of 2022.The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation was last up 3.4% at $62,205, having changed hands at $63,933 overnight, the highest since late 2021. Bitcoin’s monthly gain is more than 47%, its largest since December 2020, and its rally has pulled ether along in its wake. The smaller cryptocurrency topped $3,500 for the first time since April 2022 on Wednesday and was last up 4.3% at $3,466, taking its February increase to 52%.The momentum in bitcoin suggested “a test and likely break” of $69,000, said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at brokerage IG Markets. That would put bitcoin beyond its record high set in the heady days of crypto peaks in November 2021.”If this were any other market, it would likely be in the ‘blow-off top – don’t go near that bubble’ category,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index. “But bitcoin is back in its parabolic-rally phase, with no immediate signs of a top.” The head of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global said the exchange was dealing with a surge in traffic and LSEG data shows around $612 million flowed into the 10 largest spot bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday, the most since Feb 14.BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)’s iShares bitcoin trust was the major beneficiary, with $550 million in flows – the most in a single day to the fund since its inception in January. Traders have also poured into bitcoin ahead of April’s halving event, a process that takes place every four years in which the rate at which tokens are released is cut in half, along with the rewards given to miners.Supply of bitcoin is limited to 21 million, of which 19 million have already been mined. In addition, the prospect of the U.S. Federal Reserve delivering a series of interest rate cuts this year has lowered the yields available on bonds and boosted investor appetite for riskier assets, including fast-growing tech stocks.”Rate cuts matter,” said Geoff Kendrick, head of crypto research at Standard Chartered (OTC:SCBFF), “If you can get higher returns elsewhere, Treasury yields are higher, then you’re comparing that against what you can earn from bitcoin”.Kendrick said the health of the U.S. economy and the inflows into bitcoin funds have been more important factors. “The ETF inflows have been huge,” he added. More

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s largest bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund saw its assets under management swell five-fold in the past five months to just over $100 million, as local investors chased the rally in the world’s best-known cryptocurrency.Hong Kong has been a relative latecomer to crypto trading, approving its first three cryptocurrency futures ETFs in late 2022.CSOP Asset Management, which manages the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF, said demand grew substantially in February.The approval and launch of spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. this year has spurred demand from investors who believe the token’s limited supply will push prices higher, said Alessandro Zhu, who oversees crypto products and is deputy head of fixed income at CSOP Asset Management.Bitcoin’s significant outperformance of Hong Kong stocks has also boosted demand, he added.Zhu noted that although cryptocurrency trading is banned in mainland China, offshore Chinese financial institutions could invest in bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong. Bitcoin has gained 45% this month alone and, trading around $63,000 on Thursday, is closing in on its November 2021 record highs near $69,000. Assets under management for CSOP Ether Futures ETF have also benefited, doubling this year. Volumes have surged.Average daily turnover for the CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF this year has jumped to $2.8 million compared to $0.97 million last year, now at par with turnover in some Hong Kong property giants such as the Wharf (Holdings). Some market participants expect Hong Kong to approve the first spot bitcoin ETF this year as officials are keen to develop the city as a hub for virtual assets. “Hong Kong’s bitcoin ETF is showing promising signs with a large number of (spot bitcoin ETF) applications to Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in the past few months,” said Kennix Chan, executive director of Victory Securities. More

Bitcoin halvingKnown as “halving,” the process could see the amount of Bitcoin received by participants in the blockchain network underpinning the token slashed to 3.125 from 6.25.Halving limits the number of Bitcoin in circulation, possibly lowering fresh supply on the open market.Roughly speaking, halving occurs about once every four years, or after the network has verified transactions on a total of 210,000 blocks. The first halving took place in November 2012, when the return from mining stood at 50 Bitcoin. Two more halvings happened in 2016 and 2020.Eventually the reward is due to hit a mark of 0.00000001 Bitcoin, the lowest denomination of the token. Called a “satoshi,” this amount could theoretically be the reward until the proposed limit of 21 million Bitcoin in circulation is potentially reached in about 2140.When could the next Bitcoin halving occur?The next Bitcoin halving will likely take place around April 24 this year, Menno Martens, Crypto Specialist at VanEck told Investing.com.Martens called the event “pivotal,” noting that prior halvings have resulted in rallies in the price of Bitcoin and the overall capitalization of the crypto market.The first halving in 2012 saw the price of Bitcoin shoot up from around $12 to around $130 six months later, according to data from crypto exchange Binance. Following the second in 2016, it soared from $660 to around $900 in half a year. The third in May 2020: $8,600 to $15,700 by November that year.”This historical pattern suggests the halving could lead to potential significant [price] appreciation before and after the halving event,” Martens said.Bitcoin’s recent rallyOn Wednesday, Bitcoin surpassed the $61,000 mark, extending a rally in the token into a fifth consecutive day.By 11:26 ET (16:26 GMT), the price of Bitcoin had risen by 7.9% to $61,251.2, placing the cryptocurrency within touching distance of an all-time high of more than $68,000 reached in 2021. It has now soared by more than 16% in the past seven days.Along with the anticipation surrounding the upcoming halving, Bitcoin’s stellar performance this year has been spurred on by a recent decision from U.S. authorities to give the green light to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that directly track the price of the cryptocurrency. The approvals have drawn a slew of institutional capital into Bitcoin. “Overall, we continue to like the set-up for [Bitcoin]/Crypto and expect considerable upside in [calendar year 2024] with [Bitcoin] exiting the year at [around] $85K+ levels driven by ETF inflows outpacing available supply on exchanges,” analysts at Compass Point wrote in a note.They added that possible Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in the second half of 2024 could encourage risk-taking among retail investors. Retail trading volumes have remained relatively muted despite the ETF approvals, in an indication that faith in the crypto industry may have been dented by a string of high-profile scandals and bankruptcies.An announcement from MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin, that it had recently purchased 3,000 tokens for about $155 million has also supported the token.Meanwhile, a report from digital asset manager Coinshares showed that crypto investment products saw a fourth straight week of capital inflows. Digital asset investment products were bolstered by inflows of $598 million in the week to Feb. 23, according to the report.Bitcoin ETFs commanded the lion’s share of the inflows. Bitcoin products registered $570 million of inflows, with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust notching $543.5 million of inflows. This largely offset sharp outflows from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, as it grappled with a slew of new entrants to the Bitcoin ETF space.Ambar Warrick contributed to this report. More

There has been a strong rally in the cryptocurrency this week, driven by strong inflows into US-based ETFs, which has been noted by various analysts.As of 10:34 am ET, bitcoin is up more than 7% at $61,170. So far this week, the premier cryptocurrency is up 17%, adding to its more than 44% gain so far in 2024. In the past 12 months, BTC has climbed 160%. Traders have flocked to the cryptocurrency ahead of the halving event expected in April. However, the rally has not been limited to BTC, with analysts noting this week that their digital asset portfolio is outperforming Bitcoin for the first time.”We believe this is quite significant as a signal to understand the crypto bull market is getting wider,” wrote Bernstein in a research note. More

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By Amanda CooperLONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin surged for a fifth day on Wednesday to near $60,000, buoyed by flows into new U.S. spot bitcoin exchange traded products that have driven it up nearly 40% in February, which would mark its largest monthly rally since December 2020. Bitcoin was last up 4.5% at $59,244, its highest since November 2021.Traders have poured into bitcoin ahead of April’s halving event – a process designed to slow the release of the cryptocurrency. In addition, the prospect of the Federal Reserve delivering a series of rate cuts this year has fed investor appetite for higher-yielding or more volatile assets.”Bitcoin is being driven by the support of consistent inflows into the new spot ETFs and outlook for April’s halving event and June’s Fed interest rate cuts,” Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at retail investment platform eToro, said.The value of all the bitcoin in circulation has topped $2 trillion this month for the first time in two years, according to crypto platform CoinGecko, while the price of the token itself has doubled in just four months.The bigger bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen a definite pickup in interest this week.The three most popular, run by Grayscale, Fidelity and BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), have seen trading volumes surge.On Monday and Tuesday, around 110 million shares in the biggest three changed hands, about 51% of the 215 million shares traded in the market’s most valuable companies – Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), according to LSEG data.Three weeks ago, this percentage was closer to 15%.”Essentially, we’re seeing the ETF effect ahead of schedule. Inflows into them stepped up quickly last week and have been sustained, and we think it’s reflective of advisors getting out there very quickly to start selling the ETFs to clients,” Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities, said. LSEG data showed flows into the 10 largest spot bitcoin ETFs brought in flows of $420 million on Tuesday alone, the most in almost two weeks.Crypto investor and software firm MicroStrategy earlier this week disclosed it had recently bought about 3,000 bitcoins for $155 million, while social media platform Reddit also said in a regulatory filing it had bought small amounts of bitcoin and ether.Meanwhile, the world’s second biggest crypto currency ether,, which underpins the Ethereum blockchain network, rose 2.2% to $3,320, having hit another two-year high earlier in the day. The price has risen 47% in February, the biggest monthly gain since a 70% rally in July 2022.Some investors are hoping U.S. regulators will approve applications for ETFs based on spot ether. Enigma Securities’ Edwards said the run higher felt reasonably steady. “There certainly isn’t a manic feeling to who’s buying and why – ether gaining against the field also speaks to a more measured environment – but there’s at least a little FOMO (fear of missing out) going on right now,” he said. (This story has been corrected to say November, not December, in paragraph 2) More

By 05:22 ET (10:22 GMT), the price of Bitcoin had risen by 4.6% to $59,202.5, placing the world’s most popular cryptocurrency within touching distance of an all-time high of more than $68,000 reached in 2021. It has surged by more than 16% in the past seven days.Top crypto exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), as well as crypto miners Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA), Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT), CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK), Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) and Bit Digital (NASDAQ:BTBT), all climbed prior the opening bell in New York.Bitcoin’s stellar performance this year has been spurred on in part by the recent U.S. approval of exchange-traded funds that directly track the price of the token.The approvals have drawn a slew of institutional capital into Bitcoin. However, retail trading volumes have remained relatively muted, in an indication that faith in the crypto industry has potentially been dented by a string of high-profile scandals and bankruptcies.An announcement from MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), the biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin, that it had recently purchased 3,000 tokens for about $155 million has also supported the cryptocurrency. More

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer urged a judge on Tuesday to impose a lenient sentence for the FTX founder’s conviction for stealing $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, arguing clients would get most of their funds back. In a sentencing submission, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer Marc Mukasey told U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan that a guidelines range between 5-1/4 and 6-1/2 years would be an appropriate prison term. That is far less than the maximum sentence of 110 years he faces after a jury found him guilty in November on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history.Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal his conviction and sentence. He acknowledged making mistakes running FTX, but testified at trial that he never intended to steal customer funds.Kaplan is set to sentence the former billionaire, who turns 32 next week, on March 28. The lawyer’s submission was accompanied by letters of support from Bankman-Fried’s parents, psychiatrist, and others.His parents, the Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, said their son was uninterested in material wealth and worked hard to make customers whole in the month between Bahamas-based FTX’s November 2022 collapse and his arrest on fraud charges a month later.”Barbara and I…witnessed firsthand his single-minded focus on getting money back to depositors, long after there was any possibility he would be able to save any of his equity or wealth,” Bankman wrote. Mukasey called a 100-year guidelines range calculated by probation officers “barbaric”, saying it was based partly on a faulty assertion that FTX’s customers lost billions. He pointed to the bankrupt company’s recent assertion that it expected to repay all customers in full to back up the argument that Bankman-Fried did not set out to steal. “The conviction does not address whether Sam intended to pay the money back. He did,” Mukasey wrote.The probation officers’ calculation is not binding on Kaplan. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan is expected to make its own sentencing recommendation by March 15. ELIZABETH HOLMES OR MICHAEL MILKEN?A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bankman-Fried rode a boom in the values of digital assets such as bitcoin to a net worth Forbes magazine once estimated at $26 billion. His fortune evaporated in November 2022, when FTX declared bankruptcy after a wave of customer withdrawals.At his month-long trial in Manhattan federal court, three former close associates testified that Bankman-Fried directed them to help loot FTX customer funds to plug losses at his Alameda Research hedge fund, even while presenting himself publicly as a responsible steward in the volatile cryptocurrency market.Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried also used customer funds to buy luxury real estate in the Bahamas and to donate to U.S. politicians who might support cryptocurrency-friendly regulations.Bankman-Fried testified that he did not realize how much Alameda owed to FTX until shortly before both failed.Mukasey acknowledged Bankman-Fried’s case bore some similarities to that of Elizabeth Holmes, another young entrepreneur who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2022 for defrauding investors in her now-defunct blood-testing startup Theranos.But he said Holmes put patients at risk, and suggested Bankman-Fried had more in common with Michael Milken – a Wall Street financier in the 1980s known as the “junk bond king” who was released from prison after serving just two years of an initial 10-year sentence on fraud charges. “Given the same chance, Sam would dedicate his post-prison life to charitable works,” Mukasey wrote. MOTHER SAYS SHE WOULD CHANGE PLACESBankman-Fried has been jailed at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since August, when Kaplan revoked his bail after finding that he likely tampered with witnesses. In a letter to Kaplan, Bankman-Fried’s psychiatrist George Lerner wrote that he is on the autism spectrum. Mukasey wrote that Bankman-Fried struggles to make eye contact and communicate with others, which could leave him vulnerable in a prison setting. Bankman-Fried’s mother wrote that her son had taken responsibility for the errors that led to FTX’s collapse and was remorseful, but said she feared for his life in prison. “His father and I face the very real possibility that we will not live long enough to see him freed,” Fried wrote. “I would gladly change places with him if I could.” More