The bitcoin price has reached a new record high, breaking through $68,000 and falling a touch to $67,920 at 11.05am on 9 November, amid positive and negative commentaries on the crypto space.
The latest gains come after the US tech entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, the chief executive and co-founder of the payment service Square, said he was committed to making bitcoin "the native currency of the internet" and his company had no plans to expand its offerings to other cryptocurrencies. He told analysts on an earnings call last week the firm was working on a number of initiatives, such as hardware wallets to store bitcoin, and functions to allow consumers to mine for the cryptocurrency.
Another boost has come from Australia's securities watchdog following other global regulators, by giving the green light to the highly anticipated spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in a move that has provided a framework for other countries to follow suit.
While JPMorgan's digital strategy analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou recently prediced that a 15% rise in Bitcoin prices in contrast to a 67% drop for Ethereum may be on the cards, while Goldman Sachs forecast a possible 80% rise by the year end
But there was also a further warning from the Bank of England when its governor Andrew Bailey said on 8 November that the rise of crypto assets was helping illegal activity, Reuters reported.
"I'm afraid that the advent of digital means of payment, and in particular crypto assets, I'm afraid that the evidence suggests, and we see this, is that it is providing another means of payment for people who want to conduct criminal activity," Bailey said during an online question-and-answer session organised by the Bank of England.
The Bank of England deputy governor, Sir Jon Cunliffe, said last month that digital currencies such as bitcoin could trigger a financial meltdown unless governments stepped forward with tough regulations
Australia's securities watchdog has also followed other global regulators, by giving the green light to the highly anticipated spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in a move that has provided a framework for other countries to follow suit.
In industry reaction to the latest Bitcoin price surge, Matt Blom, Ggobal head of sales trading at EQONEX said: "It is strange to see a market reach all-time highs, with volumes failing to show the enthusiasm imagined to support such a move. One explanation for this is the basis trade. With the market frothy, perpetual and futures contracts are providing great yield for those long spot and short futures. Typically, we have seen these metrics go hand-in-hand so it will be an area to follow in the near future."
While Nigel Green, CEO and founder of deVere Group said: "Bitcoin will maintain its strength and is likely to shoot further this week, possibly hitting fresh all-time highs, as this current ‘take off' generates further interest and momentum, attracting even more retail investors."
Green added that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would be the "tipping point" in regard to ETFs.
"I believe that the Wall Street's top regulator will eventually approve a spot Bitcoin ETF.
"A US-based spot Bitcoin ETF would give the sector an unseen level of legitimacy and act as the ultimate tipping point for the market as it will allow corporates to buy and sell quickly and have direct exposure to the crypto itself, unlike with a futures-based ETF."
As Bitcoin moves towards fresh all-time highs, other cryptos can also be expected to move to the upside, says Nigel Green. His observation follows Solana and Ether both hitting record highs last week.
"Bitcoin's gravitational pull on other digital assets will show itself again this week, pulling up other major cryptocurrencies as it maintains its own strength.
"We can expect those cryptos involved with fintech development, such as Ether, Solana and Cardano, to do particularly well."
