Treasury Secretary Bessent announces tariff relief on coffee, fruits
Investing.com-- Bitcoin was largely steady on Tuesday after hitting record highs above $126,000 in the previous session, buoyed by strong inflows into U.S. spot exchange-traded funds, “debasement” trades amid the prolonged U.S. government shutdown, and seasonal optimism known as “Uptober.”
The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose to an all-time high of $126,186.0 on Monday, but later pared gains amid some profit-taking.
Bitcoin was 0.1% higher at $124,719.4 as of 08:45 ET (12:45 GMT). It jumped over 10% last week.
Bitcoin boosted by ETF inflow, "debasement trades", "Uptober" cheer
Data from SoSoValue showed that U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $3.2 billion in net inflows in the week to October 3, the second-largest weekly total since their launch earlier this year. On October 3 alone, daily inflows reached about $985 million.
The heavy demand through ETFs has allowed institutional players to gain exposure to Bitcoin without direct owning the world’s most popular digital asset.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government shutdown, which is stretching into its second week, has added fuel to the rally. With Washington gridlock stalling economic data releases and injecting policy risk, investors have flocked to non-sovereign “hard assets.”
That shift is often termed the “debasement trade,” where capital rotates from fiat currencies toward assets like Bitcoin and gold in anticipation of inflation or monetary easing.
The timing also aligns with strong October seasonality, often dubbed “Uptober,” when historical returns tend to be favorable for cryptocurrencies. That said, profit-taking emerged after Bitcoin notched its all-time high, with the token shedding some gains on Tuesday.
"Traders will see volatility, but institutions are beginning to view Bitcoin differently. It is no longer treated purely as a speculative asset. It is increasingly framed as part of a diversified allocation strategy, alongside gold and Treasuries," said Andrei Grachev, Managing Partner at DWF Labs.
Crypto price today: Ethereum jumps over 3%
Altcoins traded in mixed fashion, with some of them remaining rangebound amid worries over broader economic uncertainty.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum jumped 3.1% to $4,720.88.
World no. 3 crypto XRP dipped 0.6% to $2.9822.
Solana edged slightly lower, while Cardano and Polygon both gained.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin advanced by more than 1.1%.
Galaxy Digital unveils Robinhood rival platform
In crypto-exposed stocks, Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY) unveiled GalaxyOne, a new trading platform offering commission-free stock and crypto trading, in a direct challenge to Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), sending its shares up 7% on Monday. The stock was up by a further 2.7% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
The platform mirrors Robinhood’s core offerings, including access to more than 2,000 stocks and ETFs, crypto trading, and high-yield cash accounts. Following the announcement, Nasdaq-listed Robinhood shares fell around 3% on Monday.
(Scott Kanowsky contributed reporting.)