Crypto-rally lifts ether to a new record, bitcoin to almost 3 weeks high

SYDNEY, Nov. 8 (Reuters) – Bitcoin climbed to a two-and-a-half-week high on Monday, climbing to a new high as cryptocurrencies rose higher on a wave of momentum, currents, good news and fears of inflation.

Bitcoin was last up around 3% to $ 65,121 and ether, which underpins the ethereum network, set a record high of $ 4,711.

Ether is up 57% since early October and bitcoin around 50% as investors cheered on last month’s launch of a US futures-based bitcoin-traded fund and sought exposure to an asset class that is sometimes seen as an inflation hedge.

Falling real interest rates, as traders prepare for inflation, increase the attractiveness of assets such as gold and cryptocurrencies that do not pay a coupon, said Kyle Rodda, analyst at broker IG Markets, adding that the mood in the sector has also been good.

“Financial institutions want to be a part of it, regulators do not want to push it too much,” he said. “We’re almost past the inflection point, where it’s part of the system and it’s going to be very, very difficult to free it.”

In recent weeks, Australia’s largest bank has said it will offer crypto trading to private customers, the Singapore authorities have heard positively about the asset class and spillovers from a positive sentiment in equities have also provided support.

Last week, New York’s newly elected mayor Eric Adams said he would take his first three payslips in bitcoin and signaled that he intended to make his city the “center of the cryptocurrency industry” following a similar promise from Miami’s mayor.

Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing Muralikumar Anantharaman

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