Bitcoin soars above $35,000 on ETF hopes

News Image

By MG News | October 24, 2023 at 10:35 AM GMT+05:00

0:00

October 24, 2023 (MLN): Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, surged as much as 15.84% yesterday on hopes of fresh demand from exchange-traded funds, with participants betting on Blackrock’s ETF filing to be approved soon.

The largest cryptocurrency today breached $35,000 for the first time since May 2022, and is currently trading at $34,490.

This takes the year-to-date gain to around 108.38%.

The possible approval in the coming weeks of the first US spot Bitcoin ETFs is stoking speculative ardor for the token, Bloomberg reported.

Asset managers BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity Investments are among those in the race to offer such products. Digital-asset bulls argue the ETFs would widen adoption of the cryptocurrency.

A US federal appeals court on Monday also formalized a victory for Grayscale Investments LLC in its bid to create a spot Bitcoin ETF over objections from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC has so far resisted allowing ETFs that invest directly in Bitcoin, citing risks such as fraud and manipulation in the underlying market. The court ruling and flurry of applications from investment heavyweights to start spot funds stoked speculation that the agency will relent.

ETF Ticker

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas flagged on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that the iShares Bitcoin Trust “has been listed on the DTCC” with the ticker IBTC.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, operates the iShares business. The DTCC is the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp., which undertakes clearing and settlement in US markets.

“This doesn’t mean it’s technically approved,” Balchunas said in an interview. “It’s not home free. But this is pretty much checking every box that you need to check before you launch an ETF. When we see a ticker added, those things are usually right before launch.”

Bitcoin also surged 10% intraday at the start of last week on ETF hype. On that occasion, an erroneous report that BlackRock had won approval to launch a fund caused the move and the rally cooled once the mistake came to light.

Ether, the second-largest token, jumped 6.4% to exceed $1,800 in Bitcoin’s slipstream on Tuesday. Smaller coins such as BNB, XRP and meme-crowd favorite Dogecoin also gained.

Coinglass data shows that about $387 million worth of crypto trading positions, mostly from speculators who were betting on lower prices, were liquidated in the past 24 hours.

SEC Clampdown

The SEC has already allowed ETFs that hold Bitcoin and Ether futures. But the agency overall has intensified a crypto crackdown following last year’s market crash and blowups like the bankruptcy of the FTX exchange, whose co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is on trial for fraud.

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Elliott Stein and James Seyffart have said “approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF looks inevitable” and that a batch of funds is likely to be given the green light, though the timing remains uncertain.

Bitcoin remains below its pandemic-era, 2021 peak of almost $69,000, squeezed by rising interest rates that hit demand for risky assets.

The token’s correlations with assets such as stocks, bonds and gold have ebbed lately, stoking questions about whether mainstream investors have disengaged.

“Liquidity is somewhat better than before,” said Justin d’Anethan, head of business development in the Asia Pacific at crypto market maker Keyrock. “Prices have now recuperated and with it a certain amount of liquidity — still nothing compared to the euphoria of 2020-2021, though.”

Copyright Mettis Link News

Related News

Name Price/Vol %Chg/NChg
KSE100 131,949.07
198.95M
0.97%
1262.41
ALLSHR 82,069.26
730.83M
0.94%
764.01
KSE30 40,387.76
80.88M
1.11%
442.31
KMI30 191,376.82
77.76M
0.36%
678.77
KMIALLSHR 55,193.97
350.11M
0.22%
119.82
BKTi 35,828.25
28.42M
3.64%
1259.85
OGTi 28,446.34
6.84M
-1.02%
-293.01
Symbol Bid/Ask High/Low
Name Last High/Low Chg/%Chg
BITCOIN FUTURES 108,125.00 110,525.00
107,865.00
-2290.00
-2.07%
BRENT CRUDE 68.51 68.89
67.75
-0.29
-0.42%
RICHARDS BAY COAL MONTHLY 97.50 0.00
0.00
0.75
0.78%
ROTTERDAM COAL MONTHLY 106.00 106.00
105.85
-2.20
-2.03%
USD RBD PALM OLEIN 998.50 998.50
998.50
0.00
0.00%
CRUDE OIL - WTI 66.50 67.18
66.04
-0.50
-0.75%
SUGAR #11 WORLD 16.37 16.40
15.44
0.79
5.07%

Chart of the Day


Latest News
July 05, 2025 at 11:58 PM GMT+05:00

Weekly Market Roundup


July 05, 2025 at 02:57 PM GMT+05:00

National Savings Schemes see over Rs27bn inflow in May


July 04, 2025 at 10:16 PM GMT+05:00

CAT upholds CCP’s ruling against PREMA Milk


July 04, 2025 at 10:07 PM GMT+05:00

Gold price in Pakistan falls Rs1,500 per tola


July 04, 2025 at 08:01 PM GMT+05:00

TRG in Supreme Court



Top 5 things to watch in this week

Pakistan Stock Movers
Name Last Chg/%Chg
Name Last Chg/%Chg