Bitcoin price up 4% in past day, breaking through $37,000
The asset has remained on an upward trajectory in recent weeks in part due to optimism around spot bitcoin ETF approval
Anastasiya Shatyrova/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Bitcoin’s price reached $37,000 Thursday, a level not reached since May 2022.
The price was about $37,100 minutes before 9 am ET — up 4.9% from 24 hours ago, according to CoinGecko. It had reached as high as $37,149, the data shows.
Ether’s price was at $1,922 at that time, a 1.6% increase in the past day.
“Looking ahead, the breakthrough above the $37,000 and $2,000 mark will be a significant milestone, and our outlook is optimistic concerning bitcoin’s price action,” Douglas Comin, senior crypto options trader at XBTO, said in a statement. “The momentum appears poised to persist as the cryptocurrency market continues to garner attention from institutional investors.”
Bitcoin’s price briefly spiked on Oct. 16 after a false media report claimed the US Securities and Exchange Commission had approved BlackRock’s proposed spot bitcoin ETF.
This came a few days after the regulator chose not to challenge Grayscale Investments’ court win against the SEC. Judges ruled in that case the SEC’s decision to deny the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF — but allow the launch of bitcoin futures ETFs — was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Read more: ‘Game on’: SEC opts not to appeal Grayscale’s court win
Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has continued climbing since.
“When the SEC refrained from opposing the Grayscale decision, it became evident that the question was not ‘if’ but ‘when’ a bitcoin ETF would become a reality, causing the market to rally,” Comin said.
Bloomberg Intelligence analysts have pegged the chance of spot bitcoin ETF approval at 90% by Jan. 10 — the date by which it must rule on such a proposal by Ark Invest and 21Shares.
Galaxy Digital research associate Charles Yu wrote in a report last month that the price of bitcoin could increase by 74% in the 12 months following spot ETF approval. Yu and others have looked to the gold market as a point of comparison to determine the potential effect of such a product on BTC’s price.
Aside from the ETF optimism, bitcoin and other crypto assets have outperformed traditional assets in recent weeks amid “the uncertain macro backdrop and weakness in US banks,” Compass Point Research and Trading analysts said in a Nov. 3 research note.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said last month bitcoin is an asset some investors are gravitating toward — alongside gold and Treasurys — amid a “flight to quality.”
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