Bitcoin soars past US$40,000 on optimism for US trading approval

The digital asset has skyrocketed this year, gaining nearly 150 per cent, with expectations growing that US regulators will allow the creation of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Bitcoin on Monday (Dec 4) rose past US$40,000 for the first time since May last year, boosted by hopes that the United States will soon allow broader trading of the world's biggest cryptocurrency.

The digital asset has skyrocketed this year, gaining nearly 150 per cent, with expectations growing that US regulators will allow the creation of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

These would track the price of Bitcoin and allow the public to invest in the currency without directly purchasing it.

"This idea that institutional money in US capital markets is going to have a legitimate, compliant avenue ... the expectations are extremely high that that's really going to take Bitcoin to new levels," Lucy Guzmararian, founder of Token Bay Capital, told Bloomberg.

Bitcoin was trading above US$40,700 at around 4am GMT on Dec 4 (Monday).