Some of the world’s largest exchange-traded fund providers are betting the rally in bitcoin will accelerate over the next 12 months as institutions beef up their exposure to the cryptocurrency and Washington ushers in a new era of regulatory support for digital assets.

VanEck’s $24 billion Australian arm released its first official bitcoin forecast on Tuesday, tipping the world’s largest cryptocurrency will hit $US180,000 by the end of this year – a 50 per cent surge from current levels.