Bitcoin has surpassed £45,000 today, as traders await the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
For the first time in six months, bitcoin has broken beyond this mark. The market took a tumble after reaching an all-time high of about £47,000 in April, and Bitcoin is now beginning to regain those levels. The recent increase can be related to cryptocurrency investors’ anticipation of the first bitcoin ETF being approved in the United States.
According to Bloomberg‘s unidentified sources, the SEC is expected to accept ProShares and Invesco Ltd’s requests for ETFs based on bitcoin futures. These proposals were submitted under mutual fund rules, which, according to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, provide “significant investor protections,” unlike others the commission has already turned down.
The regulator is also unlikely to block the launch of new products, according to the sources. “Before investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits,” the SEC’s investor education division said in a tweet. The rally earlier today was presumably sparked by this tacit confirmation.
Various investment funds have applied for bitcoin ETFs in the United States, but none have been successful so far. Galaxy Digital Funds, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Valkyrie, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, and are just a few of the well-known names. Aside from these products, which are more intimately correlated to bitcoin, four futures-backed bitcoin ETFs are expected to begin trading on American platforms later this month. In Canada and Europe, dozens of cryptocurrency exchange-traded instruments are currently available.
“We have seen more institutional build up, especially in the past few weeks, than we have at any time since the (bitcoin price) crash back in April,” said Noelle Acheson, head of market research at Genesis Global Trading.