Can Bitcoin shoot up to $168,000?

The launch of Bitcoin-ETF futures from ProShares was successful the day before. Recall that this product is available to investors on the New York Stock Exchange. It was included in the list of the most productive instruments following the results of yesterday’s session.

As a result, we saw another jump in the value of bitcoin. Some analysts are now not only confident that BTC will reach $100,000 by the end of the year, but also do not exclude its rise to $168,000.

Another important event in the cryptosphere was the initiative of Russian commodity companies to engage in mining. They sent their proposals in this area for consideration by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Digital Development.

The theme of the start of testing a digital wallet from Facebook also attracts attention. The company conducts testing in partnership with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

Bet on the king

ETF futures under the ticker BITO took second place in yesterday’s session. The volume of transactions with this instrument amounted to just over $1 billion. The BlackRock ETF ($1.16 billion) reached the first place in the ranking in terms of performance.

The opening price of BITO was $40.88. Trading for this product closed in the US at $41.94. In total, 24.3 million shares changed hands, totaling just over $1 billion.

Bloomberg strategist Eric Balciunas tweeted that this was an important day in the history of the industry. The demand for the novelty turned out to be massive, which indicates the prospects of such a product. As evidence, we can also cite the data of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), where open interest in bitcoin futures reached an all-time high of $4.39 billion.

Net capital inflow into BITO amounted to about $570 million at the end of the American session. According to Balciunas, other companies issuing bitcoin-ETF futures can also count on softening the position of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, do not expect quick decisions from the regulator. He may switch to a wait-and-see approach to assess all potential risks.

The head of the SEC, Gary Gensler, said on the eve that his department is more inclined to focus on futures than spot prices of bitcoin. The first product is controlled by the US authorities, based on the legislation of the 1940s, which helps to maintain stability in the derivatives market.

This week we should expect the launch of another bitcoin futures ETF. This is a product under the ticker BTFD, its issuer is Valkyrie.

Is further growth inevitable?

Now bitcoin is trading at $64,340, its capitalization on Wednesday, October 20, increased to $1.212 trillion (according to CoinMarketCap). Fundstrat analyst Tom Lee does not exclude that by the end of 2021 the price of BTC will reach $168,000.

Although such a scenario at the moment seems to be the most aggressive, the expert stressed. Nevertheless, he himself is more inclined to predict that the price of the first cryptocurrency by the end of December will be able to approach $100,000. At best, the coin will exceed this mark, but you should not count on more yet.

Tom Lee, as well as other Wall Street strategists, links the dominance of the Bitcoin strengthening trend with the launch of ETF futures products in the US market. As soon as institutionals get another channel to penetrate the cryptosphere, they immediately use it – especially if it is regulated by the US authorities. Therefore, now the chances of maintaining the rally are much greater than the imminent retreat of the leading cryptocurrency.

Mining in Russian

The Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Digital Transformation received a letter from Russian oil companies in which they offered to allow them to mine cryptocurrency. Electricity for this process is proposed to be generated from associated gas directly at the oil fields. In the same territories, you can build data centers with mining equipment and engage in crypto mining. The initiative of the oilmen is already being discussed in the government, RBC reports. The Bank of Russia should also express its opinion on this issue and not hinder the implementation of this promising project.

However, companies fear that the Central Bank may oppose this initiative, as over the past few years the regulator has criticized all projects representing the cryptocurrency industry. Of the Russian oil and gas giants, for example, Gazprom Neft was engaged in mining. However, the company did not create an extensive infrastructure for bitcoin mining.

Facebook wallet controversy

The day before it became known that Facebook, together with Coinbase, began testing the Novi digital wallet. Testing has begun in the US and Guatemala, but FB is still not ready to release its own Diem token, which has been talked about since 2019. Coinbase has provided access to its crypto storage service.

Users are allowed to transact with the Paxos stablecoin. However, this project has already met with resistance from a number of US senators. The Anti-Test Group of Novi is led by Elizabeth Warren.

She, along with colleagues, sent a letter demanding to stop testing the wallet and prevent the creation of a payment system that will be controlled by a private company.

Sources: CoinTelegraph, Twitter, CoinMarketCap, NewsBTC, Skew, RBC