Bitcoin nears a 6-month high of $60,000 as investors eye first US ETFs

• Bitcoin rise nearly 4% to as high as $59,664, its highest since mid-April.
• "It is widely expected that the fourth quarter will see significant progress around a bitcoin ETF in the US," Ben Caselin says.
• SEC tweets that before investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits.

Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, hit a six-month high on Friday, approaching the record hit in April, as traders became increasingly confident that US regulators would approve the launch of an exchange-traded fund based on its futures contracts.

Bitcoin rose nearly 4% to as high as $59,664, its highest since mid-April. It has doubled in value this year and is near April's record high of $64,895.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is poised to allow the first US bitcoin futures exchange traded fund (ETF) to begin trading next week, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Ben Caselin, head of research and strategy at Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange AAX, said bitcoin's spike above $59,000 wasn't arbitrary and long-term investors had been accumulating it for a while.

"It is widely expected that the fourth quarter will see significant progress around a bitcoin ETF in the US," he said.

Friday's moves were also spurred by a tweet from the SEC's investor education office, he said.

"Before investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits," the SEC tweet stated.

Cryptocurrency investors have been waiting for news of approval of the country's first bitcoin ETF, and some of bitcoin's rally in recent months has been in anticipation of that move and how it could speed up its mainstream adoption and trading.