Bitcoin Retakes $45000 With ETF Applicants Making Final Push ...

8 Jan 2024

BNN

(Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin rose above $47,000 for the first time since April 2022 with US regulators seen as being poised to approve exchange-traded funds that invests directly in the digital asset for the first time.

BlackRock Inc., Ark and several other prospective issuers of exchange-traded funds filed amended forms earlier Monday in what is seen by analysts as a final push to offer the investment products more than a decade after the first application was filed.

The original digital currency gained as much as 6.2% to $47,007, the biggest intraday increase since Nov. 15. Bitcoin, which surged almost 160% last year in anticipation that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will approve the applications, is surging toward levels not seen since before the collapse of the crypto sector in the second half of 2022. The token hit an all-time high of almost $69,000 in November 2021.

“The bullish movement for Bitcoin is almost certainly a response to the very high likelihood that we see spot ETF approval this week,” said Greg Moritz, co-founder and chief operating officer at crypto hedge fund Alt Tab Capital.

Read more: Why Crypto Is Counting on Spot Bitcoin ETFs: QuickTake

Fidelity, Invesco and Galaxy Digital and WisdomTree were among other firms that filed amended S-1 applications with the SEC. The regulator has until Jan. 10 to take action on at least one of their applications, and crypto insiders have speculated the regulator will use that date to announce a slew of decisions at once.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler issued a warning Monday on the social media platform X about the risks that often come when investing in crypto.

“Billions of dollars of crypto long positions were liquidated last week when an analyst report suggested SEC will reject this week,” said Teong Hng, chief executive at crypto investment firm Satori Research. “Bullish reports today, by the likes of Standard Chartered Bank estimating between $50 to $100B of inflow into Bitcoin ETF this year adding fuel to the rally.”

Other smaller cryptocurrencies were most higher, with Ethereum up about 3.8%, and Cardano, Solana’s SOL and Polkadot up anywhere from 7% to 9%. Bitcoin accounts for a little more than half of the crypto’s $1.7 trillion market capitalization.

Shares of so-called crypto companies were mostly higher. Coinbase Global, the largest US crypto exchange gained about 2.3%, while Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms were both up more than 7%. MicroStrategy, the software maker which has served as a proxy for many equity investors who want expose to Bitcoin, fell about 1.2%.