Will Bitcoin's Solid May Rally Last? ETFs In Focus
Zacks Investment Research | May 28, 2019 08:00AM ET
Bitcoin is now around $9,000 as it had the best one-month rally in May since before the token’s monumental jump in 2017. Bitcoin gained about 65% in the past month and 133% this year. This happened even after the SEC postponed its decision on the VanEck/SolidX bitcoin (BTC) ETF proposal this month (read: Yet Another SEC Disapproval for Bitcoin ETF: What Next? ).
What’s Behind the Surge?
The other key cryptocurrencies by market capitalization also saw considerable gains. Per an article published on Bloomberg , a flurry of positive headlines has hit the crypto market. AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) said last week that it will allow customers to pay bills with Bitcoin or Bitcoin cash. Also, Fidelity Investments was finalizing plans to buy and sell the digital asset for institutional customers. Possibilities of greater accessibility are thus driving the bitcoin.
What Lies Ahead?
The bitcoin market faced its share of troubles from August 2018 to March 2019. So, many market watchers view the price rally as the end to the bear market. Bulls are wagering on the probability of a continued run as more institutions start to build out their own cryptocurrencies or launch projects using the underlying blockchain technology, per Bloomberg. Bullish market watchers expect bitcoin to Will the Bitcoin Bounce Last? ETFs in Focus ).
There are bearish opinions as well. In the short term, a derivatives trader and blockchain researcher remains bearish on Bitcoin, which he predicts will slump to $4,200-4,500 price range by the second half of June. In a May 24 interview on MMCrypto, the researcher said that the currency would top out at around $9,400 this month, though it “could drop sub-$7,000 any hour.”
Any ETF Alternatives to Play Bitcoin?
Though bitcoin ETFs are not available to investors and the future price momentum is dubious, investors can choose to invest in the related but way stable investing options like blockchain ETFs. Per a source, “the blockchain in Bitcoin literally acts a ledger; it keeps track of the balances for all users and updates them as money changes hands.”
So, if investors cannot lay their hands on a bitcoin ETF now, they can definitely familiarize with the concept through blockchain ETFs like Reality Shares Nasdaq NexGen Economy ETF LEGR .
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