Bitcoin breaks $81,000, NEAR is up 23% due to Zcash

Asian stocks set the tone for today's market. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose by almost 1%, with South Korea and Taiwan leading tech stocks in the region. Earlier this week, US officials described their talks with China as very successful ahead of a summit between Trump and Xi Jinping.

The S&P 500 futures rose less than 1 percent, while the Nasdaq 100 gained slightly more. Brent crude fell 2 percent to above $101 a barrel for the fourth straight trading day as inflation fears eased and United States sovereign bond futures were expected to rise.

The exchange's chief operating officer, Jeff Mei, said that the spike in Bitcoin over the weekend stemmed from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of United States to approve token trading on US stocks, as well as a subsequent headlong squeeze. He also noted that there were not many important events on Sunday's calendar other than speeches by Fed officials.

Yang Mei was referring to the Federal Reserve's meeting in late October. Before that, there is a month left of official speeches and an inflation data which could affect market positioning.