Bitcoin back above $70K, crypto stocks follow suit 

Bitcoin and ether rallied after a relatively quiet weekend as crypto-related equities surged late in Monday’s trading session. 

Bitcoin (BTC) retook $70,000 Monday for the first time in about 10 days, according to Coinbase. The largest cryptocurrency gained 8% Monday to trade around $71,000 at time of publication. 

Ether similarly was on the rise Monday, gaining 7.5% in 24 hours to trade around $3,640, per Coinbase, at time of publication. Ether (ETH) is now about 23% lower than its all-time high of $4,721. 

If traders are buying ether with the hopes of a spot ETH ETF getting past the US Securities and Exchange Commission any time soon, analysts warn the investment vehicle faces an uphill battle with regulators. 

Read more: Ether ETFs coming in May? Here’s why many are bearish

“Social media is rife with enthusiasts that insist BlackRock never loses, so therefore an ETH spot ETF is a sure thing,” Noelle Acheson, author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, said. “Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way, and BlackRock’s ETH conviction does not seem strong enough to press ahead in the face of SEC opposition.”

Crypto-linked stocks including Coinbase (COIN) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) also spiked Monday, gaining 9% and 22%, respectively, toward the end of the session. Bitcoin mining operations Hut 8 Mining and Marathon Digital rose 8% and 3%, respectively, as well. 

The market moves come as digital asset investment products clocked their first week of outflows in almost two months last week, according to data from CoinShares. Investors pulled $942 million from crypto investment vehicles last week, the first outflow following a record 7-week run of inflows totalling more than $12 billion, CoinShares reported. 

Read more: Bitcoin ETF net outflows streak hits four days, $836 million

“We believe the recent price correction led to hesitancy from investors, leading to much lower inflows into new ETF issuers in the US, which saw $1.1 billion inflows, partially offsetting incumbent Grayscale’s significant $2 billion outflows last week,” James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, wrote in the report.

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