Bitcoin’s value reached a new record of over $69,000 Tuesday following weeks of demand from U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — securities that give institutional and retail investors exposure to bitcoin without having to own it directly.
The cryptocurrency has climbed about 62% since the start of this year. After hitting the fresh high, its value then dropped to under $65,000, as investors rushed to sell.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reluctantly approved the first ETFs to hold bitcoin in January, after its attempt to reject them last year ended in a legal defeat.
That decision ultimately expanded mass-market accessibility of bitcoin, helping the crypto industry overcome a turbulent year marked by the bankruptcies of massive trading firms, including the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.
