Bitcoin Nears $70,000 as ETF Inflows and US Regulatory Optimism Boost Sentiment

The cryptocurrency rose 1 percent before paring gains to trade little changed at $68,720 as of 11 a.m. in Singapore.

Bitcoin hovered near US$68,700 on Thursday (Oct 21), as a slew of inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the largest digital asset and optimism about the outlook for US regulations underpinned sentiment.

The cryptocurrency added 1 per cent before paring gains to trade little changed at US$68,720 as of 11 a.m. in Singapore. Smaller tokens such as second-ranked Ether and top-10 coin Solana oscillated in a narrow range.

US spot-Bitcoin ETFs lured almost US$2.4 billion of net inflows in the six days through Oct 18, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

These inflows come amid speculation that US crypto rules will become friendlier after the November 5 presidential election.

Republican candidate Donald Trump is avowedly pro-crypto, to the extent that Bitcoin is viewed as a so-called Trump trade.

On the other hand, Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed to support a regulatory framework for the industry.

This contrasts with a crackdown on the sector under the Biden administration.

The two key market trends to watch are the elections and the global macroeconomic environment, according to David Lawant, head of research at crypto prime broker FalconX.

The Bitcoin options market indicates that “forward implied volatility is heavily clustered around the election day and somewhat subdued leading to it and some time after it,” he wrote in a note.