Bitcoin keeps on rising. The cryptocurrency’s price is knocking on $52,000, the highest level since June 2021. That’s enough to send its market capitalization above $1 trillion.
The market has shaken off its post-FTX collapse jitters wholesale, and since then, the US government has allowed for the proliferation of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Offerings from the likes of BlackRock and Fidelity have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars of investment capital.
Good plumbing
On an earnings call this morning (Feb. 14), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group told investors that trading activity in its cryptocurrency futures products had increased four-fold since September as big market players anticipate more interest in the ETFs.
The trading platform Robinhood, on its earnings call today (Feb. 14), said that 1 in 20 of its Bitcoin investors are getting into the cryptocurrency through an ETF. Asked whether those were traders who had moved over from buying the stuff directly, CFO Jason Warnick said these were mostly new customers entering the space.
“We feel really good to offer the selection for customers,” he said. “We think it increases overall market interest in crypto and also brings liquidity to the market. So, net-net, we’re really pleased with the Bitcoin ETFs.”