Investing.com - The price of bitcoin rose to fresh record highs above the $11,700 level on Sunday as investors awaited the start later this month of bitcoin futures trading, a potentially major step in the evolution of the digital currency.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, Bitcoin was at $11,661.00 by 08:25 AM ET (13:25 GMT) after earlier hitting a high of $11,780.00, the highest level in its nine-year history.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Friday it would allow two major exchanges to launch bitcoin futures.
CME Group, the world's largest derivative exchange operator, said its bitcoin futures would launch December 18 while Cboe Global Markets said it will shortly announce the start date for its new bitcoin contract.
Bitcoin’s price has risen dramatically in 2017. For the year, bitcoin is up more than 900%, having started 2017 at $968.23 and is the biggest gainer of all asset classes this year.
Its meteoric rise has prompted warnings of an increasingly volatile bubble amid signs that it is moving from the periphery of finance towards the mainstream.
CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo on Friday warned investors over bitcoin’s extreme volatility.
“Market participants should take note that the relatively nascent underlying cash markets and exchanges for bitcoin remain largely unregulated markets over which the CFTC has limited statutory authority,” he said.
“There are concerns about the price volatility and trading practices of participants in these markets.”
Last week Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein claimed that Bitcoin was “a vehicle to perpetrate fraud” as the value of the cryptocurrency plunged 20% in less than 24 hours.
The comments came after bitcoin topped $11,000 to reach a new record high of $11,395 on Wednesday; then fell to a low of $9,000 on Thursday, before picking up slightly later in the day.
Blankfein became the latest boss of a major bank to criticize bitcoin, after JP Morgan’s chief executive Jamie Dimon described it as fraud that would ultimately blow up.
Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading, Bitcoin Cash was last at $1,595.00, while Bitcoin Gold was at $323.64.
Ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap after bitcoin, was at $476.59.
Related Articles
Bitcoin Hits Fresh Record above $11,700
For security agencies, blockchain goes from suspect to potential solution
Bitcoin Soars as CME Group Announces Bitcoin Futures to Launch on Dec.18