This archive report was first published on 7 October 2021.
October 7, 2021 - Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has surged to its highest level in five months, driven by institutional interest and news that a hedge fund controlled by billionaire investor George Soros trades bitcoin.
The world's largest cryptocurrency in terms of market value rose to $55,499.96, its highest since mid-May, after passing the $50,000 mark for the first time in four weeks on Tuesday.
According to Ruud Feltkamp, CEO of cloud-based automated crypto trading bot Cryptohopper, Bitcoin performs historically well in October, making the current price surge a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Bank of America Corp published its first research coverage focused on cryptocurrencies and other digital assets on Monday, while U.S. Bancorp announced the launch of a cryptocurrency custody service for institutional investment managers.
Other cryptocurrencies, including Ether and XRP, also followed the trend, with Ether rising 2.2% to $3,594 and XRP slightly up 0.2% at $1.0865.
Ben McMillan, chief investment officer at IDX Digital Assets, noted that based on an analysis of on-chain data, he is seeing a steady rise in the number of new bitcoin addresses, after a huge drop-off in the first half of the year, as well as an increasing number of bitcoin moving off-exchange.
