At one point on Tuesday morning in Asia, the price of bitcoin exceeded $45,000 as speculators anticipated that spot bitcoin ETFs would be approved in the US.
At 9:25 a.m., the biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was trading at $44,965, having increased 5.8% in the previous day. Hong Kong time following a morning spike that reached as high as $45,083, per statistics from The Block. Since April 2022, bitcoin had not risen beyond $45,000 till that point.
The price fluctuation follows reports that the 14 asset managers may hear from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday, in advance of the deadline of January 10, regarding the SEC’s approval or disapproval of their spot bitcoin ETF applications.
Justin d’Anethan, head of APAC business development at cryptocurrency market maker Keyrock, told The Coinbrit that “there’s nothing much happening on the macro side that would lead one to believe it’s anything other than a crypto-related dynamic.”
The names of the brokers who would support Blackrock, Fidelity, and other spot bitcoin ETF applicants—so far, Cantor Fitzgerald, JP Morgan, and Jane Street—have been confirmed, according to d’Anethan. This news, he continued, “solidifies the current narrative that ETFs are coming and they’re coming soon.”
He went on, “Most investors anticipate an official decision by the first half of this month, so shortly.”
A clue to a bullish future?
The Block was informed by Markus Thielen, head of research at Matrixport, that bitcoin might surpass $50,000 before the end of this week.
In a statement provided to The Block earlier on Tuesday morning, Thielen stated, “Even though we are not seeing minting activities at Tether increasing, which would signal fiat into crypto inflows, the fact that prices are rallying might be a sign that there are no sellers in the market and prices are squeezing higher.”
The bitcoin financing rate is hitting all-time highs, the crypto researcher noted, suggesting that long investments are becoming more popular. This is how the spot market is being squeezed by the futures market, which is probably going to push bitcoin above our $50,000 goal level by January 2024 seems to be doable,” Thielen remarked.
Head of institutional marketing at BIT, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Seychelles, Joe Caselin told The Block that bitcoin might keep rising even in the face of the expected ETF approvals, which are currently viewed as a “buy the rumor, sell the news” situation.
“The introduction of ETFs may cause a sell-off in the near run, but the incoming buying pressure and the supply reduction following the halving pave the way for a very bullish 2024 where we surpass the ATH,” Caselin stated.
