RIYADH: Cryptocurrencies declined on Friday following an ETF-fueled rally that saw it reach a record $67,016 on Wednesday, as investors questioned whether the new investment vehicle will attract as much new money to the assets as some have speculated.
Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, was trading at $63,498.16 as of 3:36 p.m. in Riyadh, a drop of 2.5 percent over the previous 24 hours. Ethereum, was 2.0 percent lower at $4,125.40 after approaching its all-time high of $4,380 from May.
Bitcoin’s recent rally — six-months after its previous top of $64,895 — was fueled by the debut of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
A dozen other futures-based bitcoin ETFs could launch in the coming months, with The Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF set to begin trading on Friday under the ticker BTF. The VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF expected to begin trading next week under the ticker XBTF.
Investors have bet the long-awaited launch of bitcoin ETFs will lead to greater investment from both retail and institutional investors, but analysts at JPMorgan suggested in a note that the ProShares ETF could have limited effect on investment volumes because there are so many options for investors already.
The ProShares ETF has created a significant shift in the balance of power among cryptocurrency exchanges. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), host to the ETF, has replaced Binance as the world’s biggest bitcoin futures platform this week.
As of 2 p.m. Riyadh time, the CME accounted for 22 percent, or $5.68 billion, of the total global futures open interest of $25.7 billion, while Binance contributed $5.66 billion, CoinDesk reported.
The value of funds held in CME-based futures contracts have tripled this month, with more than $1.5 billion flowing into the market after ProShares’ bitcoin ETF went live on Tuesday, CoinDesk said.
Elsewhere in the cryptoverse, Worldcoin said yesterday it raised $25 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, CoinBase Ventures and Digital Currency Group, valuing it at $1 billion.
The rather unique proposition is that coins are distributed in exchange for staring into an orb, which takes a scan of your retinas.
Based in Berlin, Worldcoin was founded by former Y Combinator President Sam Altman. It currently has 70 employees and 30 orbs, which it takes out into the world to offer worldcoins. It plans to ramp up orb production to 4,000 per month from November.
So far, about 130,000 people have stared into the orb, has a cap of 10 billion coins with the aim of giving one to every person on earth with the remaining 2 billion set aside for the Worldcoin Foundation and investors.
