Monday, the bitcoin price went up because banks kept saying that bitcoin was a good idea.
Coin Metrics says that Bitcoin went up more than 5% to $28,002.18, its highest level since early May. Ether went up by 3.5%, making it worth $1,782.99.
Since late last week, when BlackRock, the biggest asset manager in the world, applied what would be the first spot bitcoin ETF in the U.S., sentiment in crypto has been strong; the application came a week after the SEC accused Binance and Coinbase, two of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges. People have made a lot of guesses about when BlackRock will move, especially since Coinbase is its crypto custody partner.
Then, on Tuesday morning, a new cryptocurrency exchange backed by Charles Schwab, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Citadel Securities said it had been dealing with Bitcoin and ether for several weeks.
Since 2014, Fidelity has been closely monitoring what’s going on with cryptocurrencies. In recent years, the company has opened a division called “Fidelity Digital Assets,” made an app for private investors called “Fidelity Crypto” that doesn’t charge any fees, and started giving 401(k) investors access to cryptocurrencies, which is a choice that employers need to offer.
Many big players in the financial world are eager to show how excited they are about blockchain technology and how it can help improve old financial systems. Most, though, are quieter about what they think about dealing in crypto.
Investors were hoping on Tuesday that some of the reputational concerns of doing any form of crypto business, which for some investors have been a mental barrier to buying bitcoin, will start to disappear as a result of large names like BlackRock and Fidelity putting their crypto pledges on show.
Bitcoin has had difficulty getting out of a narrow trading band this quarter but hasn’t dropped much below $25,000 yet. The big change on Tuesday put its monthly gains in the black. This year, it has gone up 69%.
