Digital currency bitcoin jumped to a record high above $1,200 on Friday, as investors speculated the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be issued in the United States is set to receive regulatory approval.Traditional financial players have largely shunned the web-based "crytpocurrency," viewing it as too volatile, complicated and risky, and doubting its inherent value.But bitcoin, invented in 2008, performed better than any other currency in every year since 2010 apart from 2014, when it was the worst-performing currency, and has added almost a quarter to its value so far this year.It soared to as high as $1,200 per bitcoin in early Asian trading on Europe's Bitstamp exchange, before easing to about $1,190.That put the total value of all bitcoins in circulation — or the digital currency's "market cap", as it is known — at close to $20 billion, around the same size as Iceland's economy.Some analysts say regulatory approval of a bitcoin ETF would make the currency relatively attractive to the often more cautious institutional investor market.

But despite potentially high returns, low correlations with other currencies and assets, falling volatility and increasing liquidity, there is scant evidence so far that most major players are considering investing in the digital currency."Bitcoin is just not liquid enough for us to even think about," said Paul Lambert, fund manager and head of currency investment at Insight, in London."We manage billions and billions of dollars we'd need to be able to go into that market and trade in hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, and my sense is it's not like that."Three ETFs that track the value of bitcoin have been filed with the U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission for approval.The Securities and Exchange Commission will decide by March 11 whether to approve one filed almost four years ago by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.If approved, it would be the first bitcoin ETF issued and regulated by a U.S.LONDON Digital currency bitcoin jumped to a record high above $1,200 on Friday, as investors speculated the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to be issued in the United States is set to receive regulatory approval.

Traditional financial players have largely shunned the web-based "crytpocurrency", viewing it as too volatile, complicated and risky, and doubting its inherent value.It soared to as high as $1,200 per bitcoin in early Asian trading on Europe's Bitstamp exchange BTC=BTSP, before easing to about $1,190.reut.rs/2lR1Mqk That put the total value of all bitcoins in circulation -- or the digital currency's "market cap", as it is known -- at close to $20 billion, around the same size as Iceland's economy.[nL8N1G85HI] But despite potentially high returns, low correlations with other currencies and assets, falling volatility and increasing liquidity, there is scant evidence so far that most major players are considering investing in the digital currency."We manage billions and billions of dollars – we'd need to be able to go into that market and trade in hundreds of millions of dollars at a time, and my sense is it's not like that."The SEC will decide by March 11 whether to approve one filed almost four years ago by investors Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

(Reporting by Jemima Kelly, graphic by Nigl Stephenson)Join our Telegram Channel!Get Bitcoin News stories in Telegram × Dismissethereum viceBig Decisions Business Spectator Checkout51 Harper Collins New York Post PropTiger REA Storyful The Australian The Sun The Times Barron's BigCharts DJX Dow Jones Newswires Factiva Financial News Mansion Global MarketWatch Newsmart NewsPlus Private Markets Risk & Compliance WSJ Pro WSJ Conference WSJ Video Barron's BigCharts DJX Dow Jones Newswires Factiva Financial News Mansion Global MarketWatch Newsmart NewsPlus Private Markets Risk & Compliance WSJ Pro WSJ Conference WSJ Video Big Decisions Business Spectator Checkout51 Harper Collins New York Post PropTiger REA Storyful The Australian The Sun The Times Barron's BigCharts DJX Dow Jones Newswires Factiva Financial News Mansion Global MarketWatch Newsmart NewsPlus Private Markets Risk & Compliance WSJ Pro WSJ Conference WSJ Video Big Decisions Business Spectator Checkout51 Harper Collins New York Post PropTiger REA Storyful The Australian The Sun The Times Barron's BigCharts DJX Dow Jones Newswires Factiva Financial News Mansion Global MarketWatch Newsmart NewsPlus Private Markets Risk & Compliance WSJ Pro WSJ Conference WSJ Video Big Decisions Business Spectator Checkout51 Harper Collins New York Post PropTiger REA Storyful The Australian The Sun The Times While you were eating turkey Thursday, the price of a bitcoin continued to skyrocket.tor friendly bitcoin exchange

Subscribe or Sign In Popular on WSJ Most Popular Videos Film Clip: 'The Big Sick' Lower Your Wireless Bill With These Tips 'Bridge Crew': Voice Command Comes to 'Star Trek' VR Videogame A New Road to Income: Barron's Buzz Opinion Journal: Macron vs.bitcoin üye olBitcoin fans around the world are celebrating as the price of bitcoin hit a new all time high as of around 10:13pm Eastern time tonight.bitcoin pacmanThe price has continued to travel up from there.litecoin gpu mining amdAt the time of this article’s writing, the !ethereum wallet india, the price peaked at $1,183.59.senate vote bitcoin

It then slowly dropped over a year all the way down near $250 and has been going up since, with 2016 being a huge year for bitcoin’s growth.litecoin with asicWill the price continue to rise overnight with the Chinese bitcoin traders getting heavily into their day?texas bitcoin associationIt’s exciting to watch, now that the previous high that was undefeated for over three years has been vanquished.Onward and upward, bitcoin!All this while the already strong Bitcoin community in New Hampshire continues to expand.Also, the Shire Society Forums have rebranded and expanded as the “Shire Forum” and now includes bitcoin-related subforums, which are open to anyone in the Shire, whether they are part of the Shire Society or not.Finally, things are looking promising on the political front with a bill making it out of the NH house commerce committee with an 11-9 “ought to pass” that would protect bitcoin businesses from regulation in New Hampshire!

On the ground, NH’s (and maybe the world’s) , Keene, .Keene’s bitcoiners and libertarian activists have been experimenting with non-Facebook methods of communication.Some have caught on (like and ), others haven’t ().Our most recent experiment is with – it was used successfully around the country during the Ron Paul campaign and turns out, it still works!, we had new people show up at our meetings.Meetup had succeeded where Facebook has failed.Sure, new people join the Facebook group, but they almost never show up in real life.The Meetup people do.From here out, our meetings will be organized on Meetup rather than Facebook’s crippled Events “feature”.In related news – to provide New Hampshire bitcoiners a place to discuss their favorite cryptocurrencies OFF of Facebook (a popular platform that has arguably hurt activism by providing drama and distraction and limiting-by-design one’s ability to reach others effectively), the Shire Society Forum has been rebranded and expanded as the Shire Forum.