(Oct 21): Bitcoin came close to US$70,000 (RM301,210) on Monday, as a spurt of inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for the largest digital asset as well as optimism about the outlook for US regulations supported sentiment.

The cryptocurrency rose 1% before paring some of the gains to trade at US$69,005 as of 7.20am in London. Smaller tokens such as second-ranked ether and top-10 coin solana oscillated in narrow ranges.

US spot bitcoin ETFs lured almost US$2.4 billion of net inflows in the six days through last Friday, data compiled by Bloomberg showed, partly on bets that US crypto rules will become friendlier after the Nov 5 presidential election.

Republican candidate Donald Trump is avowedly pro-crypto, so much so that bitcoin is viewed as a so-called Trump trade. Democratic rival Vice President Kamala Harris has vowed to support a regulatory framework for the industry. That contrasts with a crackdown on the sector under the Biden administration.

The two key market trends are the elections and the global macroeconomic environment, according to David Lawant, the 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.

Bitcoin rallied almost 10% in the seven days through Sunday, the original cryptocurrency’s best weekly performance in more than a month. ETF demand helped the token reach a record high of US$73,798 in March. The rally cooled, and bitcoin last traded above US$70,000 back in June.

Uploaded by Tham Yek Lee