Cryptocurrency prices rose on Friday, with bitcoin rising to near $67,000. Institutional investors poured hundreds of millions of dollars into spot bitcoin ETFs last week. This could push bitcoin towards its record highs as early as next week, an analyst said. Meanwhile, COIN shares rose after Coinbase received an upgrade and large price target increase from BofA.

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More than 600 investment firms last week revealed significant holdings in spot bitcoin ETFs, CoinTelegraph reported Thursday. The list included major banks and hedge funds such as Morgan Stanley (IN), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Wells Fargo (Wordfast) It is UBS (UBS). The group collectively owns $3.5 billion in bitcoin ETFs. Hedge fund Millennium Management is the largest investor, with $1.9 billion invested.

Millennium’s holdings include $844.2 million in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (I BITE), $806.7 million in Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and $202 million from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The company also invested $45 million in the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) and $44.7 million in the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB).

“Traditional institutions are here – and bitcoin ETFs are a key part of the story,” wrote Nathan McCauley, co-founder and CEO of Anchorage Digital, in a note to IBD. Anchorage Digital is a cryptocurrency infrastructure provider that offers investment and custody services to institutions.

“The recent 13F filings are a testament to the type of institutional participation that bitcoin ETFs promised to unlock. From hedge funds and endowments to governments and pension funds, traditional players are generating hundreds of millions of dollars in ETF inflows,” McCauley said.

More institutions are expected to participate in crypto markets as bitcoin liquidity increases, says McCauley.

Bitcoin ETF Entry Sequence

Meanwhile, spot bitcoin ETFs have seen inflows of $726.8 million so far this week, with four consecutive days of inflows through Thursday, according to UK-based Farside Investors.

FBTC led inflows in the period with US$245.1 million in the week, followed by ARKB with US$233.7 million. Since launching on January 11, total spot bitcoin ETF flows stood at $12.409 billion as of Thursday. IBIT has been the clear leader, with $15.596 billion in inflows. However, Grayscale has seen outflows of $17.65 billion since its conversion to a spot ETF, which reduced total inflows to $12.409 billion.

FXPro senior market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich believes the increase in flows and institutional demand could push bitcoin to test its record highs near $74,000 next week. CoinDesk reported Friday.

“If cryptocurrencies gain support from global risk appetite on Friday, bitcoin (price) could surpass $70,000 by the weekend,” Kuptsikevich wrote. “A test of the $71,000 to $74,000 highs area, in our opinion, could happen as early as the beginning of next week, triggering a new episode of FOMO (fear of missing out).”

Coinbase appears in the update

BofA Updated Friday Coin base (COIN) to low-performing neutral, The Fly reported. The current macroeconomic environment has been positive for crypto market capitalization gains and trading volume growth, the company wrote. Meanwhile, Coinbase has demonstrated expense discipline and benefited from higher operating leverage following major cost cuts in 2022. BofA expects the higher operating leverage to help maintain profitability. Coinbase’s increased revenue distribution should also reduce earnings volatility, the company added. BofA raised its price target from 110 to 217 – a level that Coinbase had surpassed in November.

COIN shares jumped 4.2% on Friday on the update. Shares are trading below their 10-week moving averages after falling steadily from a two-year high of 283.48 in late March. Still, Coinbase shares are up about 19.4% this year.

Crypto Price Action

Bitcoin traded around $66,900 on Friday after rising to $67,458, marking a gain of nearly 3% in the last 24 hours. On March 14, Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $73,798. The cryptocurrency is off its previous peak of $68,990 set in November 2021. Bitcoin is up nearly 11% this week and is up nearly 59% in 2024.

Ethereum soared 5.1% in the last 24 hours on Friday, trading near $3,100. Ethereum is now a good distance away from its March 12 52-week high of $4,092, and well below its November 2021 peak above $4,800. On March 8, ETH surpassed the $4,000 level for the first time in 26 months. The number 2 crypto soared 35% in 2024.

About that, Microstrategy (MSTR), which holds about $13 billion worth of bitcoin, jumped another 10% on Friday. The software company’s shares are up more than 34.2% this week after Bloomberg Tuesday reports that MSTR shares will join the MSCI World Index at the end of the month. MSCI made the decision based on market value after a review of its indices. The change will take effect after the market closes on May 31.

MSTR shares have soared nearly 151% year to date.

You can follow Harrison Miller for more stock news and updates on X/Twitter @IBD_Harrison

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