Bitcoin approaches $55k as IBIT tops $1B in trades

Equities were mixed toward the end of Monday’s session while cryptocurrencies continued their rally

article-image

Maquette.pro/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Bitcoin surged as much as 6.8% Monday to hit $54,446 — a high not seen since November 2021 — as investment products continue to rake in the cash. Ether was also on the rise, surpassing $3,180 and extending its rally from earlier in the week. 

Equities were mixed toward the end of Monday’s session. The S&P 500 lost around 0.2% while the Nasdaq Composite was flat, gaining a modest 0.03%. 

These price moves come as investors continue to fund bitcoin and ether investment vehicles. Digital asset investment products clocked $598 million in inflows last week, extending a four-week streak of positive inflows, according to data from CoinShares. Bitcoin (BTC) products were the winner, raking in $569.5 million. Ether (ETH) came in second, positing $16.8 million. 

Read more: 4 crisp charts to celebrate a legendary month of bitcoin ETFs

Bitcoin investment products’ year-to-date inflows now total $5.6 billion, “although recent price rises have prompted minor inflows into short-bitcoin positions which totalled $3.9 million,” CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said. 

Monday also saw the iShares Bitcoin Trust, one of the newly-launched bitcoin spot ETFs that hit the market last month, top $1 billion in value traded. The product now ranks as number 11 out of all ETFs and is in the top 25 across stocks, according to Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. 

Read more: Bitcoin ETF Tracker

The price moves come as federal disclosures released Monday show Representative Shri Thanedar sold between $365,000 and $800,000 of bitcoin, ether and litecoin on Feb. 5, 2024. 

Analysts say optimism about an ether spot ETF, which may be approved as soon as this May, could be fueling the cryptocurrency’s rally. Coinbase last week shared a letter the exchange sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission in support of Grayscale and its bid to convert the Grayscale Ethereum Trust into an ETF

Coinbase’s team focused on the notion that ethereum is not a security, an assertion that securities regulators have historically made. 

“Senior officials of the Commission have publicly said as much on several occasions over the past six years, and neither the Commission nor its staff has disavowed this position, even after the merge,” Coinbase wrote in the letter.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

MON - TUES, OCT. 7 - 8, 2024

Blockworks and Bankless in collaboration with buidlbox are excited to announce the second installment of the Permissionless Hackathon – taking place October 7-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve partnered with buidlbox to bring together the brightest minds in crypto for […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Permissionless is a conference for founders, application developers, and users. Come meet the next generation of people building and using crypto.

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

4.png

Research

This months PPGC covered four main areas. Firstly, debriefing the progress and status of the mainnet implementation of the Ahmedabad hard fork. Secondly, a retrospective on the testnet phase of the Ahemdabad Hard Fork. Thirdly, an update on PIP-36 which involves replaying failed state syncs. Lastly, PIP-47 which pushes upgrades to the Polygon Protocol Council.

article-image

Institutions to test out the settlement of “digital assets and currencies” on a network that annually carries more than 5 billion financial messages

article-image

After Bitwise’s XRP ETF filing this week, one industry watcher notes: “Politics will determine whether this happens soon or in a few years”

article-image

Plus, a look back at some of the SEC’s biggest enforcement moves under Gurbir Grewal

article-image

The forward-looking financial system is being championed by several contributors to India’s UPI digital money system

article-image

Multiple teams are pursuing integration cross-chain and off-chain

article-image

An SEC spokesperson told Blockworks the Ripple judgment clashes with Supreme Court precedent and securities laws