By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com -- Mike McGlone, Senior Macro Strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, shared insights on Thursday suggesting that the era of substantial Bitcoin price surges might be drawing to a close. As per his analysis, Bitcoin's volatility has been decreasing throughout 2023, a trend that appears to be prevalent across many assets.
The mainstreaming process of Bitcoin, which is continuing its journey into the mainstream, could lead to reduced risks associated with the cryptocurrency. However, this might also limit its potential for significant price hikes. This was highlighted in a recent Bloomberg research report which underscored the declining volatility for both Bitcoin and the S&P 500 stock index since the end of Q1.
The report further elaborated that Bitcoin's price alignment with the stock market is not an anomaly. Typically, risk assets face challenges when the S&P 500 experiences a downturn. Bitcoin's emerging role as "digital gold" is evident, but its volatility, currently three times that of gold, suggests there's still room for stabilization. This represents a marked change from 2018 when Bitcoin's risk was approximately ten times that of gold.
In related news, attention is being drawn to the potential debut of Ether-futures ETFs in the US. Recent filings from companies like Bitwise, Volatility Shares, and ProShares suggest a keen interest in Ether futures-based exchange-traded funds. Some filings even hint at innovative products such as combined Bitcoin-Ether-futures offerings. Volatility Shares eyes October 12 as the potential rollout date for its Ether Strategy ETF, set to trade under the ticker ETHU.
However, the broader cryptocurrency market's response to these developments has been tepid. Throughout July and August, Bitcoin's price has largely stagnated at around $29,000 while Ether has declined by about 6% since the beginning of August. Both tokens currently trade at nearly half their peak values.