Bitcoin is up 30% in October—and within striking range of its all-time high

By Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer
Chris MorrisFormer Contributing Writer

    Chris Morris is a former contributing writer at Fortune, covering everything from general business news to the video game and theme park industries.

    Bitcoin’s ongoing rally is showing no signs of losing steam.

    The cryptocurrency was up another 4% in midday trading Monday and has posted gains of more than 30% so far in October. And with those gains, Bitcoin is quietly sneaking up on its all-time high of $64,888.99.

    Of course, in the normal world of finance, a $7,000-plus leap would seem a sizable one. (About the only investment where it wouldn’t raise eyebrows would be Berkshire Hathaway, which is up $13,433 so far this month.) For Bitcoin, though, big spikes and big tumbles are frequent occurrences.

    Bitcoin, as of 12:15 p.m. ET on Monday, stood at $57,630, according to CoinDesk. That puts it 12.5% away from its all-time high. In the past week alone, Bitcoin has jumped 18%.

    The steady rise in Bitcoin prices of late have come amid hopes that a Bitcoin futures ETF will soon be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 21Shares is working with Cathie Woods’ ARK Invest to launch one, with several other applications pending as well.

    The SEC also recently said it did not intend to ban cryptocurrencies, following China’s crackdown on digital currencies. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler did note, however, that “this is not going to end well if it stays outside of the regulatory space.”

    Year to date, Bitcoin is up 97%. (The Dow Jones industrial average is up 15% and the S&P 500 is up 19% in that time.) It currently has a market cap of $1.08 trillion. Only four companies have market caps exceeding that: Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

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