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Bitcoin (BTC-USD) 2024 started rising again, surpassing $45,000 for the first time since April 2022.
A fresh rally in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency that began Monday night is largely due to excitement over a series of physical Bitcoin exchange-traded funds that could be approved this month.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has until January 10 to rule on applications from 12 asset management companies that want to launch an ETF that would allow the general public to access Bitcoin without owning it. We are planning to make a decision.
Applicants include some of Wall Street’s biggest names, from BlackRock (BLK) to Franklin Templeton (BEN). The SEC has rejected such applications in the past, saying the products were vulnerable to market manipulation.
Industry officials say there are signs that regulators will step out of the way this time and grant permits to all applicants at once.
“Wishful thinking has long been a feature of the crypto industry, particularly when it comes to SEC approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs,” Ian Katz, managing director at financial regulatory advisory firm Capital Alpha, said in a note on Tuesday. .
“So far, it hasn’t worked. But recent moves suggest the SEC will finally stop saying no.”
Bitcoin lost some of its gains on Monday, but was up more than 2% over the past 24 hours as of 4pm ET. The market capitalization of all crypto assets rose 3% to $1.73 trillion as of 2:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap.
Several other cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin-related stocks followed similar momentum on Tuesday, later clawing back some of their gains. Bitcoin corporate holder software company MicroStrategy (MSTR) ended up rising more than 9%, while Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms, Inc. (RIOT) fell slightly.
Coinbase (COIN), the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, fell nearly 10%.
Bitcoin is still a long way from the all-time high of $68,789 it hit in 2021, when it benefited from low interest rates and fiscal stimulus that put extra savings in investors’ pockets.
In 2022, interest rates rose and the giant cryptocurrency exchange FTX went bankrupt, causing the market to crash, but it made a surprising comeback in 2023.
The filing by BlackRock and a court ruling in favor of another ETF applicant, Grayscale Investments, sparked a surge of optimism about the arrival of ETFs, and sent Bitcoin up 164% last year.
The bullish picture for 2024 comes as many of crypto’s biggest problems are officially in the rearview mirror with the conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried and the guilty plea of Binance CEO Changpeng Chao. is.
Investors are optimistic the industry is poised for widespread acceptance and regulatory clarity from Washington.
They are also excited about Bitcoin’s “halving” in April. This event is a once-every-four-year event in which the daily issuance of cryptocurrencies is cut in half, typically leading to another bull market.
David Hollerith is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance, covering banking, cryptocurrencies, and other financial areas.
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