[Bitcoin Now] Related ETFs Also Rise as Price Increases

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] As the price of the representative cryptocurrency Bitcoin rises, related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are also showing an upward trend.

According to Investing.com on the 31st, on the 30th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Bitcoin futures ETF 'ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO)' recorded $29.5 (about 35,700 KRW), up 21.9% compared to early last month. On the 28th of this month, it reached a higher price of $30.13, the highest since December 28 last year when it was $30.24. BITO is based on Bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

BITO, which was listed on October 19 last year, rose to $43.28 (about 52,442 KRW) the next day and reached $43.32 on November 9 last year. However, it then showed a downward trend and fell to $22.31 on January 27 this year. The recovery of BITO to last year's level is due to the recent rise in Bitcoin prices.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 11:17 a.m. on the day, the price of Bitcoin was trading at 57.01 million KRW, up 0.69% (390,000 KRW) from the previous day. It had remained in the 51 million KRW range on the 22nd of this month but then increased its gains. The upward trend was influenced by Russia, which has been economically sanctioned by the U.S. and others, announcing that it may consider Bitcoin as a payment method for oil and natural gas exports. Additionally, news that the Luna Foundation, which issued the cryptocurrency Terra, has purchased more than $1 billion (about 1.2098 trillion KRW) worth of Bitcoin since the end of January this year also had an impact.

Besides BITO, the 'Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI)', listed on the U.S. Nasdaq, has also shown a recent upward trend. WGMI fell to $21.57 on the 7th of this month but then rose to $28.3 on the 28th. This is close to the $28.72 recorded on the day after its listing, last month on the 9th. However, WGMI closed at $26.39 on the 30th, down 6.47%.

Meanwhile, as the prices of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin rise, the trading volume at domestic cryptocurrency exchanges is also increasing. According to the cryptocurrency market tracking site CoinGecko, Upbit's daily trading volume was 11.4419 trillion KRW, up 118.92% compared to early this month. The daily trading volumes of the five major domestic exchanges were Bithumb 1.5003 trillion KRW, Coinone 239.2 billion KRW, Korbit 9.2 billion KRW, and GOPAX 3.5 billion KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.