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Bitcoin’s overall market value rose to over $ 1 trillion on Friday, as a combination of institutional buying and speculative hype has repeatedly taken digital assets to new heights this year. Each Bitcoin was worth $ 55,400 around 2 p.m. ET. This is up 86% over the year.
The wave of enthusiasm for Bitcoin is coming from all corners. Companies like
You’re here
(ticker: TSLA) and software publisher
MicroStrategy
(MSTR) bought it for their treasures; financial companies like
Bank of New York Mellon
(BK) plans to keep it for customers; and retail investors can easily buy it on financial apps like
PayPal funds
(PYPL) and Robinhood.
Asset managers and providers of exchange-traded funds are creating more ways to buy Bitcoin for those who wish to trade through their brokerage accounts, rather than buying on the stock exchange or owning the coins themselves. . The investment company Purpose Investments launched the
Bitcoin ETF objective
(BTCC.Canada) Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Almost 10 million shares traded on day one, making it one of the highest volume stocks in Canada. However, many Americans cannot purchase it through their brokerage accounts.
Charles Schwab
(SCHW), for example, allows clients to trade Toronto-listed securities, but not non-US exchange traded products like Canadian ETFs.
There is no Bitcoin ETF listed in the United States, but there is a growing number of structured trust securities that trade on the public markets. The largest of these is the
Bitcoin Trust in Grayscale
(GBTC), which now has nearly $ 40 billion in assets. Another that has recently been launched is called the Osprey Bitcoin Trust (OBTC). These trusts, unlike ETFs, can trade at a significant premium to their net asset value, so they present additional risk.
A question now is whether Bitcoin will maintain its momentum or if other digital assets could steal its thunder. While Bitcoin is unique in that its supply is capped and has gained support from regulators, other coins may prove more useful.
A leading investor in the space believes Bitcoin will continue to rise, but also expects some other digital assets to rise even more. Dan Morehead, founder of Pantera Capital, launched the first hedge fund to invest directly in Bitcoin in 2013. He also has other funds that invest in other parts of the crypto ecosystem.
“We believe that Bitcoin will increase a lot over the next few years,” he said in a recent interview. “But Ethereum and Polka Dot will increase further. And then the tokens built on top of those protocols will increase even more than that. “
Ethereum is the second most valuable cryptocurrency and has unique programming capabilities. Polka Dot allows people to transfer assets from one blockchain to another.
Write to Avi Salzman at [email protected]
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