Bitcoin is surging to levels not seen in over a year amid optimism about the approval of an exchange-traded bitcoin fund.
As of Tuesday afternoon, bitcoin had risen to about $33,800 after briefly touching $35,000, the highest since May 2022. The increase marks a 17.6% increase from just five days ago, quick growth for the flagship cryptocurrency, which has been having a much better year than 2022’s disastrous run.
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Bitcoin is now up 28.6% in the past month and has posted massive gains in excess of 103% since the start of the year.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, was also buoyed by bitcoin’s gains. Ether is up 13.5% in the past five days and about 12.5% in the past month. Ripple has also gained more than 11% over the past month and 21.3% in the past six months.
The momentum comes after a federal appeals court formalized a victory for Grayscale Investments over the Securities and Exchange Commission. A three-panel judge ruling in August overturned the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s push to convert its bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund.
“Institutional demand for a spot bitcoin ETF is stronger than ever before. For many institutions, it is a matter of when — not if — the SEC will approve a spot bitcoin ETF,” said Diogo Monica, co-founder and president of Anchorage Digital, in a statement to Investor's Business Daily.
Over the summer, BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, also filed paperwork with the SEC for an exchange-traded bitcoin fund.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust, if approved, would be the first ETF to have bitcoin as an underlying asset. Previous applications to the SEC from other money managers have been rejected, though merely the application for an ETF shows growing institutional acceptance from such a major Wall Street player.
“Who needs regulatory clarity if you see BlackRock making a move,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst for the Americas at OANDA, at the time.
The price pop this week might also have seen a little support because Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) was briefly the front-runner to be the next speaker of the House.
Emmer, who was picked Tuesday to be the party’s speaker designate but has since dropped from the race, has made a point of meeting with major figures in the industry and crafting legislation to provide regulatory clarity regarding digital assets.
Some analysts are also predicting that cryptocurrency’s now nearly yearslong slouch could be coming to an end.
Denny Galindo of Morgan Stanley recently released a report emphasizing that there are some indications of more growth ahead for the cryptocurrency markets.
“Based on current data, signs indicate that crypto winter may be in the past and that crypto spring is likely on the horizon,” he wrote.
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Still, it is worth noting that despite the increases of the past few days and weeks, bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies are way down from their peaks that were notched in November 2021.
Bitcoin topped out at a whopping $69,000. So even despite the gains, bitcoin is now worth about 51% less than it was back then.