Could a Coinbase IPO push crypto into the mainstream?

Bloomberg reports brisk trading in North America’s first publicly traded bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF). Around $165m (£117m) worth of securities changed hands on 18 February, the first day of trading for Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC). It came as the price of the flagship digital currency hit a record $58,092, as a growing number of corporate treasurers and institutional investors have given explicit or implicit support, perhaps most significantly, JPMorgan Chase & Co, given the investment house’s previous reluctance to provide either.

Doubtless some investors – those who approach the stock market as they might a day out at Kempton Park Racecourse – might feel aggrieved that they have missed out on the opportunity of a lifetime. Yet at the risk of mixing metaphors, they may well have dodged a bullet instead.