Bitcoin flirts with $65,000 on the Powell Pivot, a series of ETF flows

(Bloomberg) — Bitcoin hit $65,000 for the first time in about three weeks, helped by reviving demand for dedicated U.S. exchange-traded funds amid signs the Federal Reserve is set to ease monetary policy.

Bloomberg’s most read

The biggest digital asset rose 1.2 percent to $65,030 on Monday, before falling to $64,000 as of 1:35 p.m. in Singapore. The cryptocurrency advanced 7.4% last week, its strongest such gain since mid-July.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday gave the clearest indication yet that the central bank is on track to cut interest rates from a more than two-decade high, heralding a more favorable liquidity environment for global markets.

Powell’s signal spurred a net flow of $252 million — the most in more than a month — into a group of a dozen U.S. spot-Bitcoin ETFs on the same day, data compiled by Bloomberg showed . The funds attracted inflows for seven consecutive days.

“All eyes are on the Fed,” said Cici Lu McCalman, founder of blockchain advisor Venn Link Partners, adding that a rate cut in September could boost Bitcoin.

In contrast to Bitcoin portfolios, a group of US spot-Ether ETFs experienced a net outflow on August 23. Ether was on the back foot on Monday, falling as much as 1.7%. Other major tokens were little changed.

Toncoin, a token on a blockchain linked to messaging app Telegram, fueled losses after the latter’s co-founder Pavel Durov was detained in France.

–With help from Sidhartha Shukla.

Bloomberg Businessweek’s most read

©2024 Bloomberg LP