Yahoo Finance Bitcoin Recovers after Pulling Back From Record Highs
Investing.com - The price of the digital currency bitcoin regained ground on Tuesday after ending the previous session down almost 6% after its recent record rally prompted some investors to take profits.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin was trading at $7,139.3 by 05:32 AM ET (10:32 AM GMT).
Prices rose to a peak of $7,595.00 on Sunday, the highest level in bitcoin’s nine-year history, before pulling back.
Bitcoin started the year near $1,000 and at current prices has a total market capitalization of around $120 billion.
Investors remained bullish on the digital currency after the world's largest derivative exchange operator CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last week announced plans to launch bitcoin futures later this year, pending regulatory approvals.
Earlier Tuesday, Chairman Emeritus of CME Group Leo Melamed said bitcoin is likely to become a new asset class in its own right which can be traded and regulated.
“We will regulate, make bitcoin not wild, nor wilder. We'll tame it into a regular type instrument of trade with rules," Melamed said.
The futures will allow investors to short-sell bitcoins, making two-way bets possible, a development that he expects will attract major institutional investors, not just speculators.
CME’s announcement is the clearest indication yet that the financial industry is starting to warm up to bitcoin. It came just weeks after Goldman Sachs said it was considering setting up a new trading operation focused on bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Meanwhile, in a note distributed to clients earlier this week Goldman said that the price of bitcoin could surge as high as $8,000, but warned traders against betting on a surge past that price.
"This break indicated potential for an impulsive advance, one that could reach at least 7,941. This is the minimum target for a 3rd of 5-waves up and should therefore be a level from which to watch for signs of a consolidation," they wrote.
Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, the price of bitcoin offshoot Bitcoin Cash was last at $610.47, up 3.82% for the day.
Bitcoin cash has a total market cap of around $10.4 billion at current prices, making it the third most valuable cryptocurrency.
Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin, was up 1.05% at $300.00.
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