© Reuters
Investing.com– pared much of its losses in Asian trading on Wednesday, staying within sight of a record high, as continued capital flows into U.S. spot exchange-traded funds and anticipation of a “halving” event kept buyers in the game.
The world's largest cryptocurrency fell 1.9% to $66,022.9 at 12:41 a.m. (CET), after reaching an all-time high of $69,063 on Tuesday, according to data from Investing.com.
The token had fallen almost immediately after reaching a peak, sinking as low as $59,000 before paring its losses.
Bitcoin's gains come amid steady capital flows into newly approved spot ETFs in US markets. Data released earlier this week showed that US crypto products experienced a fifth consecutive week of inflows, with Bitcoin products dominating the bulk of inflows.
The spot approval of the ETF seemed to have attracted a flood of institutional investors into cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin was also boosted by anticipation of a “halving” event in April, in which the generation rate of new Bitcoin will be cut in half, limiting new supply.
Bitcoin's highs mark a new record after November 2021. But in the meantime, it had fallen sharply as the crypto industry was rocked by a series of high-profile frauds and bankruptcies.
Still, the token has now quadrupled from a low of around $15,000 hit in November 2022, following the FTX debacle. Bitcoin is also up around 150% through 2023.
“The move has gone parabolic, it simply cannot continue as it has for so long, and we are starting to see signs of a little bit of maturity in the measure we have seen to date, but that does not mean it is a reversal.” ”said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in an interview with Ausbiz.
“Right now, if we can get the weekly candle to close where it is now, which is between $63,000 and $64,000, I think that means we've come a long way.”
Still, Bitcoin trading volumes remain well below the highs seen during 2021 and 2022, following the bull run. Relatively low volumes have also been attributed to the token's huge rise over the past year.
Most investors still consider the token too volatile, as the retail sector has largely abandoned Bitcoin over the past year.
However, the timely approval of the Bitcoin ETF this year was a positive move for the broader crypto industry, which was otherwise dealing with a massive loss of faith.
