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© Reuters
Investing.com – traded just below record highs in Asian trading on Tuesday, seeing continued support from steady inflows into spot exchange-traded funds approved earlier this year.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading 5.6% higher at $72,156.6 at 10:51 p.m. ET (02:51 GMT), staying close to its record high of $72,771 hit on Monday.
Bitcoin’s recent record highs are a continuation of a rally sparked by spot ETF approval in January, which attracted a large amount of institutional capital to the token.
The token was also promoted by MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:), Bitcoin’s largest corporate holder, which purchased 12,000 tokens using debt on Monday.
Bitcoin ETFs record weekly inflows of $2.7 billion
A report from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday that investment products that track Bitcoin saw capital inflows of about $2.7 billion in the week ended March 10.
BlackRock Inc.’s (NYSE:) iShares Bitcoin ETF (NASDAQ:) saw the lion’s share of these inflows at nearly $2.1 billion, while Fidelity (NYSE:) saw an inflow of $1.34 billion.
Bitcoin remained the sole driver of capital inflows into the crypto markets, while other major tokens such as and saw minimal inflows or outflows.
Digital asset manager Grayscale (NYSE:) also saw sustained $1.7 billion in outflows from its Bitcoin ETF last week as it continues to struggle with increasing competition in the crypto ETF sector had.
The Bitcoin ETF approvals at the start of 2024 sparked a rapid rush of institutional capital into the world’s largest cryptocurrency as they provide exposure to the token without having to invest in cryptocurrencies directly.
Yet even as Bitcoin’s price surpassed 2021 highs, the token’s trading volumes, particularly at retail, remained at a fraction of those during the 2021 bull market, according to data from Investing.com.
The trend raises questions about how sustainable the recent Bitcoin rally has remained, but also leads to accusations of market manipulation by exchanges and stablecoin operators.
Retail interest in cryptocurrencies had largely declined over the past two years following a sharp price decline marked by rising interest rates and a series of high-profile frauds and bankruptcies.
Crypto stocks posted a mixed performance on Monday. While Microstrategy, largely viewed as a Bitcoin proxy, rose 4%, the exchange operator reported Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:) and miner Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) fell 1% and 12%, respectively.
Coinbase, in particular, is still arguing with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the nature of cryptocurrencies.
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