Bitcoin is continuing its bull run as it broke the $8,000 price barrier today, peaking at $8,315.52 behind a mix of positive news regarding interest from institutional investors.
Increasing interest from investment giant BlackRock could be fueling speculation as the world’s largest asset manager ($6.3 trillion in assets under management) is assembling a team tasked with finding opportunities within the cryptocurrency space.
Related: Bitcoin $8K Rally Could Just be Getting Started
After topping the $20,000 mark last December and then losing 60% of its market value, Bitcoin has rallied about 38% the past month after diving to just below $6,000.
“We’ve been in depressed levels for the last six months, so it’s really one way from here, which is up,” said Timothy Tam, chief executive officer with CoinFi, a cryptocurrency data analysis company, in a phone interview from Hong Kong. “The timing is always difficult to predict but I think we’re at the start of a secular bull market.”
Other positive news fueling the rally is renewed optimism after Bitmain, a China cryptocurrency mining rig maker, accomplished another investor funding round,. The company was reported by Chinese financial news outlet Caixin to have raised $300 million to $400 million at a valuation of about $12 billion.
In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is mulling over whether to approve a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF)–a request filed through the Chicago Board of Exchange (CBOE) by investment firm VanEck and blockchain platform SolidX. An approval of a Bitcoin ETF would allow reticent investors to purchase the cryptocurrency without using an exchange that lacks government oversight and regulation.
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