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First Mover Americas: BTC Flirts With $68K Amid ETF Inflows

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Oct. 18, 2024.

Updated Oct 18, 2024, 12:08 p.m. Published Oct 18, 2024, 12:08 p.m.
BTC price, FMA Oct. 18 2024 (CoinDesk)
BTC price, FMA Oct. 18 2024 (CoinDesk)

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.

Latest Prices

CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,056.00 +1%

Bitcoin (BTC): $67,818.38 +1.35%

Ether (ETH): $2,625.15 +0.85%

S&P 500: 5,841.47 -0.02%

Gold: $2,709.71 +0.59%

Nikkei 225: 38,981.75 +0.18%

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Bitcoin made another attempt to establish a foothold above $68,000 early in the European morning before pulling back and trading around $67,800. BTC has gained about 1.35% in the last 24 hours, outperforming the broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, which is just under 0.8% higher. Bitcoin has also risen nearly 9% this week, according to CoinDesk Indices, amidst strong uptake for spot BTC ETFs. The U.S.-listed funds have seen inflows of $1.86 billion since Monday, which, even with one day remaining, is their highest tally since the second week of March, according to data compiled by SoSoValue.

Globally, bitcoin ETPs have enjoyed their best week since July, according to bold.report. ETPs have registered a cumulative inflow of 25,675 BTC ($1.74 billion) in the last seven days, as investors worldwide have scrambled to gain exposure to bitcoin amidst its latest rally. The U.S.-listed ETFs' inflows of nearly $1.9 billion are the equivalent of 21,450 BTC. To put this into perspective, the bitcoin ETF investors have purchased around 48 days of mined supply, as roughly 450 BTC get mined daily. These spot ETFs have now taken over $20 billion in net inflows since inception, an impressive feat as it took Gold ETFs about five years to reach the same number, according to Bloomberg's ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas.

Dogecoin jumped late U.S. hours Thursday as entrepreneur Elon Musk further revealed plans for his proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” at a Pennsylvania town hall. The event encouraged early voting in the crucial state where Republicans and Democrats are in lockheads. DOGE has risen over 9% to over 13 cents for the first time since late July, beating the broader market and bitcoin’s 1% rise in the past 24 hours. It extended one-week gains to over 22%, the highest among all major tokens. Musk has emerged as a key backer of Republican Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in the past months. He has donated over $75 million to the American PAC since July and is scheduled for several campaign appearances in Pennsylvania this month.

Chart of the Day

COD FMA, Oct. 18 2024 (Artemis)
COD FMA, Oct. 18 2024 (Artemis)
  • The chart shows daily Bitcoin transaction fees in USD and BTC's price.
  • Transaction fees spiked to $67,300 Thursday, the highest single-day tally since Aug. 22.
  • Renewed bullish price action in Bitcoin-based memecoins likely catalyzed the spike in transaction fees, according to IntoTheBlock.
  • Source: Artemis

- Omkar Godbole

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Jamie Crawley

Jamie joined CoinDesk as a news reporter in February 2021 after writing widely about crypto and blockchain for two years in other roles. Away from crypto, Jamie runs a lot and loves all things sport. He holds small amounts of BTC, ETH, ADA and LTC.

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Omkar Godbole

Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor on CoinDesk's Markets team based in Mumbai, holds a masters degree in Finance and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) member. Omkar previously worked at FXStreet, writing research on currency markets and as fundamental analyst at currency and commodities desk at Mumbai-based brokerage houses. Omkar holds small amounts of bitcoin, ether, BitTorrent, tron and dot.

picture of Omkar Godbole