After surging to $9,721 on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange BTC=BTSP on November 27, the bitcoin price completed its march to record breaking $10,000 on November 28, and broke even higher, standing at $11,000 on November 29. However, on the same day it crashed to about $8,500 and then rebounded to about $10,000.
Bitcoin prices rose almost 1500% in 2017 alone, with the rate of the November ascent being unprecedented, and no one quite knows where it will go from here. Many analysts expect to see a short-term correction as traders take profits, but, at least for now, that pullback has yet to materialize.
Bitcoin’s price has been helped in recent months by the announcement that the world’s biggest derivatives exchange operator CME Group would start offering bitcoin futures. The company said last week the futures would launch by the end of the year though no precise date had been set.
So far, institutional investors have largely stayed away from the market, viewing it as too volatile, too risky and too complex to invest other people’s money into. But some say the launch of the CME futures could lure in more mainstream investors.
“Promises of bitcoin futures opening the door to institutional money are supercharging the price,” said Charles Hayter, founder of cryptocurrency data analysis website Cryptocompare.
