Investing.com – Bitcoin surged above $12,000 for the first time in its nine-year history as investors continued to bet that demand for the popular digital currency will surge with the launch of bitcoin futures expected before year-end.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin rose to $12651, up $1040, or 8.97% after hitting an all-time high of $12,819 earlier in the session. Bitcoin's market cap rose to $219.54 billion.
The optimism in bitcoin comes amid expectations that bitcoin exchange-traded-funds will follow the launch of bitcoin futures, which would stoke institutional demand for bitcoin as it seeks to become an established asset class.
Cboe Global Markets Inc. said Monday it will start trading bitcoin futures on Dec. 10, after receiving the go ahead last week from US futures regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The news comes after CME Group announced last week that it would launch bitcoin futures on Dec. 18.
"We are pleased to bring Bitcoin futures to market after working closely with the CFTC and market participants to design a regulated offering that will provide investors with transparency, price discovery, and risk transfer capabilities," said Terry Duffy, CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on Friday.
Other cryptocurrencies failed to mirror bitcoin’s move higher as bitcoin cash fell 0.80% to $1403.90, while bitcoin gold fell 7.18% to $264.01.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, fell 3.97% to $432.50.