Bitcoin Hits All-Time High Above $66K on Strength of ProShares ETF Debut

The latest rally appears fueled by the successful debut on Tuesday of the first U.S. bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund.

By Sebastian Sinclair, Bradley Keoun

Oct 20, 2021 at 1:48 p.m. UTC

Updated Oct 20, 2021 at 7:44 p.m. UTC

Bitcoin's price just passed $66,000 for the first time in its 12-year history. Where does the road go from here? (Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Sebastian Sinclair

Sebastian Sinclair is a CoinDesk news reporter based in Australia.

Follow @Sebsinclair1989 on Twitter

Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is the managing editor of CoinDesk's Markets team. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.

Follow @Liqquidity on Twitter

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has hit a new all-time high above $66,000, marking a full recovery from a months-long slump and extending the year’s gains to nearly 130%.

The cryptocurrency pushed past the previous price record of $64,889 set in April and was changing hands at $66,685 as of 15:44 UTC (11:44 a.m. ET).

The largest cryptocurrency appears to have gotten a push on Tuesday from the launch of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first exchange-traded fund approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to invest in bitcoin futures.

The new fund, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BITO, hauled in $570 million of assets on its first day and racked up $1 billion of trading volume, ranking it among the most successful launches of all time.

In the coming weeks, several more bitcoin futures-based ETFs may debut in the U.S., opening the potential for savvy U.S. crypto investors to partake in what is known as a “cash and carry” arbitrage strategy.

These ETFs would buy bitcoin futures contracts, on regulated venues such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), in an attempt to replicate the cryptocurrency’s price performance instead of purchasing actual bitcoin.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.