Bitcoin has surpassed the $60,000 mark briefly for the first time since April 2021, as traders grew confident over the news that the US regulators would approve the launch of Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) possibly by next week.
Cryptocurrency investors have been waiting for approval of the first US ETF for Bitcoin and the recent rally has been fuelled in part by anticipation of such a move, which is seen as speeding up the mainstream adoption of digital assets.
Rumors about the approval of the first US ETF for Bitcoin saw a price surge of about $7,000 over the past seven days, equating to a 13 percent increase from $53,000 to $60,000. After months of underperformance, the crypto market has been steadily gaining ground on the back of a positive regulatory outlook and further adoption by global corporates.
Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, rose 4.5 percent to its highest level since April 17 and was last at $59,030. It has risen by more than half in value since September 20 and is now close to its all-time high of $64,895. Other cryptocurrencies such as Ether, Cardano, Solana and Matic traded up to 11 percent higher.
According to reports, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to allow the first US Bitcoin futures ETF to kick start trading next week.
“It is widely expected that Q4 will see significant progress around a bitcoin ETF in the US,” Mr. Ben Caselin, head of research and strategy at Asia-based cryptocurrency exchange AAX, said.
The Chairman of SEC, Mr. Gary Gensler previously said that the crypto market involves many tokens which may be unregistered securities and leaves prices open to manipulation and millions of investors vulnerable to risks.
Proposals from investment management companies ProShares and Invesco are based on futures contracts and were filed under mutual fund rules that Mr. Gensler has said provide significant investor protection, according to reports.
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