In a notable development, the price of Bitcoin has surpassed the $38,000 mark, marking a noteworthy 5% surge over the past week and attaining a level not seen in 17 months. The cryptocurrency’s robust rally is closely linked to heightened expectations surrounding the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a highly anticipated milestone within the cryptocurrency community.
Despite recent obstacles, including delays in SEC decisions regarding ETF applications from industry players such as Hashdex and Grayscale, Bitcoin has demonstrated resilience, as evidenced by its persistent upward trajectory.
Market enthusiasm remains unabated, with investors closely monitoring Franklin Templeton’s Bitcoin ETF application, which faces an impending deadline today. Simultaneously, other spot ETF filings are slated for January 2024 deadlines, with analysts from Bloomberg Intelligence projecting potential approvals as early as the first week of January 2024. This prospect could facilitate increased accessibility to Bitcoin for both institutional and retail traders.
The bullish outlook for Bitcoin is further fueled by the anticipation of heightened institutional demand. Approval of spot BTC ETFs is expected to streamline the process for investors seeking to incorporate Bitcoin into their portfolios, potentially leading to increased demand and subsequent price appreciation.
Contributing to the positive sentiment is data from BTCDirect, indicating that a substantial portion of Bitcoin’s supply has remained stagnant, with 69% of the total supply showing no movement over the past year. This static supply is considered a crucial support for the recent upward trend in Bitcoin’s value.
