Bitcoin (BTC) Price Movements

Per Tuesday October 24th, Bitcoin (BTC) hit a maximum valuation of around $34,900 - marking its most bullish price point since May 2022 (i.e. the dawn of the ongoing crypto winter). In turn, this indicated an almost 20% mark-up on the OG crypto’s valuation over 7 days, and even more impressively, a 30% increase over the last 10 days.

As ever, the pinpointed ceiling of the coin’s performance this week remained ambiguous, as although some reports suggest that the $35,000 feat was broken, this isn’t what the likes of CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko represent on their respective price charts.

Either way - and per the time of writing - BTC has since dropped down to a price of around $34,000, which, in short-to-medium term reflection, is still a very bullish price level.

Ethereum & Altcoins Follow Suit

As is often (or always) the case in crypto ongoings, price surges on the BTC front also prompted crypto’s top altcoins to follow suit…

And this is exactly what we saw, as over the past couple of days or so, the likes of Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Avalanche (AVAX), and more, all experienced similar steep inclines on their respective prices.

Spot Bitcoin ETF Mania: Where Next

Of course, there must be an explanation for this sudden surge in Bitcoin demand, as per the record books, the coin had been calmly hovering at around $26,000 in the two months prior to this week.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock throughout 2023, you’ll know that speculation surrounding institutional Spot Bitcoin ETF applications probably played a role in it, as such area of discourse is now impossible to avoid when discussing the future of Bitcoin.

Further, given the positive BTC price movements, news surfaced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is closer to approving Spot Bitcoin ETF applications… be it some, or perhaps just one.

If you didn’t already know, what makes such prospect so momentous is the fact that some of the world’s largest asset managers are the applicants in question here, including Grayscale (which is looking to convert its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)), Ark Invest, Fidelity, and the largest of them all with almost $8.6 trillion assets under management, BlackRock.

As of now, existing Bitcoin funds revolve around ‘futures,’ however with the introduction of a Spot Bitcoin ETF, actual Bitcoin tokens will become easily-accessible and holdable to the clients of these gigantic asset managers.

Ceteris Paribus, such increase in Bitcoin accessibility is expected to drive-up demand for the asset…and therefore its price equilibrium (where as previously explained, the prices of other cryptos and altcoins will probably follow suit).

On the broader side of things, such event is also touted to do wonders for the overall adoption of Bitcoin and DeFi, as many view the introduction of a Spot Bitcoin ETF as a major turning point in crypto’s trajectory into mainstream finance.

BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval Chances

Additionally, bullishness for Spot Bitcoin ETF approvals arose when BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust was listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website with the ticker ‘IBTC’ - whilst accompanied with an updated prospectus which included hints that the fund could receive its initial funding by as early as the end of October.

Embed tweet: https://x.com/cryptopresalehq/status/1716590948228968847?s=20

That being said, the ‘IBTC’ entry then disappeared from the DTCC list on Tuesday, adding even more ambiguity to proceedings.

However, in turn, many deemed such events as being indicative of an imminent arrival of BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF, as first and foremost, it was the only proposed fund to be listed on the DTCC website.

Or was it… as per more-recent findings of ours, Art Invest’s Spot Bitcoin ETF has now been listed on the DTCC.

Ark spot #Bitcoin is now listed on the DTCC ????#crypto #defi #web3 #investing #CryptoNews pic.twitter.com/FStI1JTPY4
— CRYPTOPRESALE (@cryptopresalehq) October 25, 2023

Spot Bitcoin ETF & the SEC

Of course, for a Spot Bitcoin ETF to be inaugurated into American financial markets, the several institutional applications must first be given the green light by the SEC.

Despite seemingly making progress on this front in recent weeks - which was especially showcased by the criticism-onslaught on SEC Chair Gary Gensler at a recent Senator hearing - a spanner has most-certainly been thrown in the works by way of the SEC fining BlackRock for $2.5 million for failing to disclose documents.

More specifically, the fine relates to the company failing to disclose documents of its ‘Multi-Sector Income Trust’ (BIT) between 2015-2019. Such documents are said to be linked to its lending facility Aviron Group, as well as advertising plans relating to the launch of ‘one to two films per year’.

Although BlackRock and its representatives are yet to comment on the matter, it’s hard to not raise suspicions over the timing of such charges, especially given that they relate to events that happened as long as 8 years ago.

Nonetheless, experts - including Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas and colleagues - have stated that there’s a 90% chance of a Spot Bitcoin ETF being launched by January 10th - i.e. the time wherein the SEC faces final deadlines when deciding on some of the in-question products.

Additionally, such consensus was recently bolstered - or perhaps complicated - by SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, who said that the logic for why her employer hasn’t already approved of a Spot Bitcoin ETF has ‘always mystified’ her.

JUST IN: ???????? SEC Commissioner says the "logic for why we haven't approved a Spot #Bitcoin ETF has always mystified me." pic.twitter.com/A5YRuT2gdA
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) October 23, 2023