Proactive Investors - Bitcoin climbed another 1.6% higher to $28,366.08, continuing the momentum seen since Sunday.
After flat-lining at just under $27,000 from the tail end of last week, the price of the number-one cryptocurrency has been hovering just below $29,000 for the past two days, up 6.9% over the month, as anticipation grows about the potential launch of BlackRock’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Inaccurate news over the ETF’s approval saw price action increase across the crypto asset class, said analyst Michael Hewson at CMC Markets.
He noted that one-day volatility on BTC/USD hit 97.74% yesterday against 35.24% on the month.
Jeff Embry, managing partner at crypto hedge fund Globe 3 Capital, said the market reaction to the fake news, which first emerged via a tweet, gave a “glimpse of the positive sentiment and powerful demand that such a product will create across the board”, as the price spiked higher.
“It also showed that market participants and traders have their finger on the trading button and that there is a pent-up demand for good news on the crypto front,” he told Blockworks.
Adoption of bitcoin in more spot ETFs could see the crypto become a $900 billion asset, according to calculations by CryptoQuant, which said the total crypto market could grow by $1 trillion.
There are several spot bitcoin ETF applications in the system, including BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)'s and others for Fidelity, WisdomTree, Valkyrie, VanEck, Bitwise and Invesco.
Ethereum, meanwhile, fell 1.2% to $1,574.43, down 3.6% over the month. Spot ETH ETFs are also being worked on.
Elsewhere, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its examination priorities for 2024, which include crypto monitoring and examinations. The securities regulator disclosed: “Examinations of registrants will focus on the offer, sale, recommendation of, advice regarding, trading in, and other activities in crypto assets or related products.”